Trials in Perim
by Aluren Darkfire
Summary: Jacob and Hank have been visiting Chaotic and Perim for a few months. Join them and their friends on their adventures as they encounter danger, drama, and excitement in a story based on a card game/cartoon that was discontinued a decade ago!
1. A New Arrival

"Inferno Gust!" Bladez shouted, swinging his sword towards Crawsectus, summoning a blast of burning wind that launched the crustacean back with a cry of pain.

"What's the matter, can't stand the heat?" the Underworlder growled.

"I'll be fine" came the nasally reply. "But YOU need to cool off. Hail Storm!"

Crawsectus raised a claw revealing a bracer strapped to the appendge. A gemstone set in the Torrent Krinth shone brightly as a flurry of jagged ice shards burst forth from the claw, sending Bladez flying backwards with a yell.

The warrior rolled with the impact and jumped to his feet just in time to hear his opponent shout "Sludge Gush!"

"Sunuva-" the curse was cut short, a wave of mud washing over the now wet and filthy Underworlder, pushing him up against the stadium wall and causing him to drop his sword.

Crawsectus scuttled forward, snapping his pincers menacingly. "Tough luck, AirRazor. Looks like I've-what's that?" the Overworlder asked, tilting it's head as Bladez pulled something out of a compartment in his shield.

"A Mugician's Lyre" he replied conversationally, strumming a quick tune in the instrument. "Song of Fury!"

Crawsectus froze in shock as a spirit, deep red and bearing a vaguely humanoid form, left Bladez' body and was drawn into a crystal, little more than a flat heptagon with a hollow center, hovering just above the warrior. A series of harsh, ominous notes sounded out through the area and jets of flame burst forth from the Mugic, enveloping the two. Crawsectustus grunted in pain as the power of the crystal damaged him, and simultaniously caused Bladez' body to burst into flame. The blue-skinned gladiator thrust his callused hand out with a roar of "Torrent of Flame!" The fires of the Mugic mixed with the blast pouring from his hands and, with a final, defiant shout, Crawsectus exploded in a shower of bright white numbers and letters.

Bladez instinctivly closed his eyes against the light and found himself back in the Hotek Drome, staring down a human teen from across the room.

"The winner is, AirRazor" the voice of the Drome announced.

"That was close" Jacob Collins said, as the swirling code of Chaotic wrapped around the warrior, restoring him to his normal form: a teen boy with dark, messy hair and brown eyes, wearing a simple black t-shirt with boots and cargo pants. "Good game." He held out a hand to shake, and his opponent grabbed it.

"Next time" came the reply.

* * *

The sky was perpetually bright and clear outside and Jacob had to blink several times to adjust from the low light of the Battledrome. All around him, other Chaotic players were entering or leaving the building, or just socializing on the grass by the walkway. From either side of the building was a raised monorail platform that shuttled players between the seven other Dromes, but Jacob stuck to the moving sidewalk that led to the Port Court, central hub of the location known as Chaotic.

He couldn't help but smile at the scenery as he passed, with it's lush grasses and sparkling fountains. "Better than a crappy apartment in the city" he mumbled aloud.

The Port Court itself was a different story. Dozens of people at any given time using Transport Pads to travel to and from Earth and Perim, while a hundred others sat around tables watching matches on massive floating screens. Jacob grinned at a replay of muscular creature in spiked armor spraying fire at a giant lobster.

Dropping into a seat, he waved down one of the passing waiters, small floating robots with bulbous bodies and ordered a soda. The server confirmed this and flew off while Jacob pulled a thick, green, tablet-like device from his pocket and tapped a few buttons on his Code Scanner.

The image of a stocky teen boy with a short blonde buzz-cut, wearing a sports jersey and track pants quickly filled the screen. "Hey, I thought you had a match?" he asked in leui of a greeting.

"I'm fine, Hank, thanks for asking. Jacob replied dryly. "Just got out. He was a newbie, I think. Got thrown off by a Mugic. How's Castle Mommark?"

"Pretty good. Staluk was about to code me until I said I was there to trade. Did you know Mommark doesn't have any Human DNA on file? Traded a couple fingernail clippings and some saliva for the mugic scan."

"Gross. See you soon then?"

"Not just yet. Gonna see if I can get Staluk to let me get a scan of him, too. Later"

"Peace." Jacob ended the call with a sigh. With his scheduled match over, and Hank haggling with Mommark's creatures for the next who-knows-how-long, Jacob got his drink and let his mind wander. He could head to Perim or play a pickup match, but none of those sounded particularly interesting right now.

Glancing around, he saw a kid, probably no more than 12 or 13, a mop of brown hair wearing a navy polo and khakis, with a telltale look of fascination in his eyes. With a grin, he drained his cup and walked over.

"New here?" he asked.

"I was-and then I-" the kid stammered.

"Let me guess: you were at home playing Chaotic online, won a couple matches, then got an email with a card code for the game. You punched the code into your scanner, and now you're here?"

"Yeah!" The kids head whipped back and forth taking in the scene. "Is that what happened to everyone here, too?"

"Sure is" Jacob confirmed. "What's your name? I'm Jacob. But my screen name is AirRazor."

"Will. Um, I'm WillPower, online"

"Nice to meet you, Will. But before you do anything else, you see this button?" he held up his Scanner and pointed at a button near the top of the screen. Will nodded.

"Press this button on your Scanner to go home. When you get there, you can press the button again to come back. I suggest you do it now, and I'll explain more when you get back."

This statement got him a curious look, but the command was followed. Will vanished with "whoosh", his body dissolving into motes of light.

A few minutes later, the boy was rushing back over to Jacob from the direction of the Transport Center.

"That was soo cool! It's like I was here, but I was home at the same time, and when I went from here to there, it was like our memories got smooshed together and now I'm waiting for myself to see what's happening!"

"Sounds about right" Jacob said with a smile. "When you put in that code, it made a digital copy of yourself and sent it here, where you can play the game for real. When you do that, your online deck gets locked so you can use your cards in the Battledromes." He pointed to one of the buildings outside.

"Then, when you Port back home, your deck unlocks and your Chaotic self gets kinda downloaded into your Earth self so you remember what happens here and back at home. Any cards you get here are added to your online deck, too. I figured you should Port back so your Earth self wasn't wondering why his scanner stopped working"

"Whoa..." the poor kid seemed to be suffering an information overload. "Wait. You said 'play for real'. What do you mean?"

He motioned for the youth to follow. "You'll get scheduled for a match in one of the seven Battledromes. You can do pickup or challenge matches whenever you want, but you can count on one scheduled match a day." Jacob explained, leading Will to one of the floating screens. "Check the boards so you can find the time and place"

Will scanned the monitor and quickly found his name in the Imthor Drome schedule, set for a match in about 20 minutes.

"Got lucky today" Jacob said. "It's pretty busy. They normally set you up as soon as you port in for the first time."

"So it's just like the online game?" Will asked. "With our own cards and everything? Whats the catch?"

"The 'catch' is, when you play in the Dromes, you don't just play your attacks and move onto the next round." Jacob paused for dramatic effect. "You transform INTO the creatures, and fight for real." He motioned to one of the floating screens playing a battle as Will's eyes grew wide. "Every one of those fights? They're people like you and me, borrowing the creatures bodies and powers. Your cards determine their base abilities, but the Dromes let you fight in more creative ways, so even a weaker creature can win with a good strategy."

Will stood transfixed and watched a feline humanoid with tiger stripes fire jets of high-pressure water from her palms at a creature seemingly made of lava. The entire battlefield around them was like the inside of a volcano, and angry gouts of steam billowed forth where the water struck. When the steam cleared, the cat-woman, Intress, was gone, leaving her opponent, Magmon, looking around for his foe. Others seated nearby were shouting advice for either player at the screen as Intress jumped out from behind a rock holding a long golden weapon. "Flash Freeze!" she cried, the Cyclance summoning a blast of freezing wind that kicked up shards of the cooled lava to strike Magmon.

"Where's this Imthor Drome?" Will asked, awestruck.

"Follow me"

* * *

..."and getting 7 wins in a row means you get to challenge the Codemaster of that Drome and if you win, you get a super rare card." Will summarized

"Yup, a Location. And sometimes the Codemaster sends you the challenge. The Beta Drome is super casual so it doesn't have a Codemaster, but you got it. More or less" Jacob confirmed as the walkway moved them closer to a white and gold building.

"This is so cool!" He was bouncing on the balls of his feet." And the only people allowed to know are other players!"

"I mean, you could tell other people, but good luck proving it. A few others have tried, and they tend to get...reputations" Jacob said with a grimace. "At best you get 'An Overactive Imagination'; at worst, straight-up 'Crazy'." He neglected to mention that he was one of those players, having an awkward meeting with a councillor about the difference between fantasy and reality before he took the hint and stopped talking about it.

"Well, that's enough exposition from me." Jacob joked as the sidewalk dropped them off at the entrance to the Imthor Drome. "I'm gonna head back to the Port Court and cheer you on"

"You're not coming with me?" Will was looking apprehensive at the idea of entering the drome alone.

"Not allowed. You'll be fine, though. Just keep your strategy to yourself." Will got an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "Some guys like to get the newbies talking about their cards. Don't let them get into your head and do your best. I'll meet you at the Port Court when you're done, if you like."

Will nodded and slowly walked into the Drome, a little pale as Jacob gave him a thumbs up and the door automatically shut behind him.

"Not gonna hold his hand?" an Australian-accented voice spoke up from behind, causing Jacob to close his eyes and sigh.

"What do you want, Klay?" he asked turning to face the new arrival.

Around 20 years old, with blonde, swept back hair, goatee, and pink shades, "Klayotic" was the type of player Jacob was warning Will about. Well known for dirty fighting and underhanded moves in his matches, Klay was easily one of the most disliked people in Chaotic, a fact he seemed to revel in.

"Just here to break in one of the new players" he said with a toothy grin "I mean, someone's got to do it."

"You're his-?" Jacob suppressed his comments and simply walked away, leaving Klay alone at the entrance.

His bad mood carried him back to the Port Court where he found an empty table and settled in to watch. On screen, Klay was standing confidently with his arms folded over his chest, battle team apparently set up, while Will seemed to be agonizing over his choices.

After a few minutes of Klay huffing, he made his selections and the disembodied announcer asked them to lock their decks.

A holographic battle board appeared in front of each player, showing Klay's choice: a gaunt Underworlder with leathery skin, feathered wings and a glistening ruby in place of one eye. On Will's side was an Underworlder as well; a green hunched over creature in a labcoat, the top of its skull removed, exposing it's brain.

"WillPower, since this is your first time in Chaotic, you will be the attacker. Please spin the Location Randomizer." the drome announcer, a giant spinning logo for the game, said in it's synthetic monotone.

Will reached out with a somewhat trembling hand and brushed his fingers over the dial. The locations he selected for the game whipped past, slowly settling on an image of a waterfall violently spraying out into an underground cavern.

"Cordac Falls Plungepool. Choose your attacking and target Creature."

"Um, before I do, can I use a Mugic?"

Klay scoffed at this, while the Drome announcer confirmed that, yes, he could.

"Okay. I'll use a Cannon of Casualty to deal 20 damage to Lord van Bloot." He paused for a moment to gauge Klay's response, who just rolled his eyes. "Then I'll use Ulmar's remaining Mugic counter to activate his special ability, dealing another 10 damage to Lord van Bloot."

On the display, two red shapes moved from Ulmar to the board; one to Klay's card, the other to a red outline of an heptagon near Will's, causing a bar next to the Lord van Bloot to drop from 65 to 35.

Apparently emboldened, Will declared "Now, Ulmar attacks Lord van Bloot!".

Will touched his hand against the goblin on his card, as though to drag it over to Klay's. He jumped with a start as tiny letters and numbers wrapped around his body, shrinking it down to no more than a couple of feet high, while Klay was changed into the gangly form that quickly flapped his wings to hover a few inches above the floor.

"What the what?" the younger boy exclaimed in Ulmar's high-pitched voice, staring at the metal claws that passed for his hands.

"Ulmar versus Lord van Bloot at Cordac Falls Plungepool. Let the battle begin"

There was a flash as they appeared on rocks near the base of the waterfall and both creatures hissed in pain at the forceful spray that stung their bodies.

* * *

Jacob let out an impressed whistle. Cordac Falls Plungepool dealt 5 damage to each creature that battled there. The match had barely begun and Van Bloot was already down to 30 Energy, Ulmar with only 20.

"Sup nerd?" someone asked, pulling up a seat next to Jacob.

"Hey loser" he shot back, recognizing the voice of his friend, Hank. "Got a newbie. Only been here half an hour, and he's gotta fight Klay."

"Oof. He know what he's in for?"

"Kinda. I gave him a crash course, probably said too much, too fast. Looks a little shook by the transformation. We'll see what happens"

* * *

Lord van Bloot flew over the pool, scanning the area for Ulmar. As soon as the battle began, the mad scientist slipped into a crack, no doubt to launch a sneak attack. So focused he was on his search, and with the roar of the falls drowning out sound, he didn't notice the small glass vial flung at him from an outcropping until it smashed against his wings, igniting them.

The force of the blast drove van Bloot to the ground with a shout. While the spray of the waterfall quickly put out the fire, his wings were still smoking. "Where are you, you dirty little gremlin?" van Bloot shouted over the din.

He summoned his battlegear, a device strapped to his arm with metal serpentine dragons that spun rapidly to create a flaming shield, and used it to swat away a second thrown vial. He then brought both hands together in a fist, slamming them into the ground with a shout of "Terraport!".

The ground started to tremble and the caverns around them dissolved, forming into a dark and old fashioned grand hall that wouldn't be out of place in a vampire's castle.

* * *

"He used that attack to change the battlefield to Gothos Tower!" Hank blurt out in recognition. "Lord van Bloot's home turf"

* * *

Out of the corner of his eye, the winged Underworlder caught a flash of green and white. He summoned a handful of flames and hurled them after the quickly retreating form, but it vanished into the shadows.

"You like hide-and-seek? Two can play that game" van Bloot smirked.

* * *

Will was worried. The match had started off great, until he got shoved into the body of a messed-up goblin. He thought the battle would be holograms or something, not...this. Jacob said the battles were real, but he didn't think they were really real. After hiding and finding some bottles in his stained coat, a lucky shot brought van Bloot down. But now? There were no more chemicals to throw and he had no clue how to use any attacks, let alone get to his Battlegear.

No sooner had that particular thought crossed his mind, he felt a weight in his hand. Looking down with a grin of realization, Will concentrated on the item disappearing, smiling wider when it did so. "Well, that's one problem solved" he said drawing and stowing his last weapon experimentally. Knowing his gear would only be around when he needed it to be was a plus.

* * *

"Why's he playing with his Battlegear?!" Hank shouted "van Bloot's coming any second!"

"Dude, chill. Let him figure it out."

* * *

A shadow passed overhead causing Will-as-Ulmar to look up, but nothing was there. He was making different motions with his hands, mumbling "Power Pulse, Toxic Gust, c'mon-" when a fireball struck the ground at his feet. With a yelp, Ulmar jumped back and spun, trying to find his attacker. The chamber was empty, except for himself.

"H-how did you do that? Come on!" he shouted, shaky voice echoing off the walls. The only response was a stream of sharp stones striking the ground with the speed of a machine gun. Again, too close for comfort, and with van Bloot nowhere in sight.

'In sight...' With a rush of inspiration, Ulmar ran off again.

Within van Bloot's form, Klay was grinning like a cheshire cat. Gothos Tower could leave even the bravest creatures unsettled. No surprise the little creep was running again. Idly wondering what attack to use next, he soared after Ulmar.

* * *

"Quit running and hit him with something!" Jacob screamed at the monitor.

"Let him figure it out, remember?" Hank snarked.

* * *

It was like a brainwave. Jacob said the players borrowed the creatures bodies, their skills. Even their memories, apparently. And Ulmar knew some things Will didn't, like why he couldn't see van Bloot. Wedging himself behind a suit of armor, he closed his eyes and focused. Memories that weren't his own flashed by until he found what he was looking for. He had a plan.

Lord van Bloot flew noislessly into the Trophy Room, eyes peeled. This was the only room in this section of the tower he could've run to. He spied the tail of a white coat behind an old display and, with a cry of "Lightning Burst!", fired a bolt of electricity at the armor stand, destroying it. The dust settled and amongst the smoking bits of metal was a charred scrap of white cloth.

"Unsanity!" van Bloot saw stars when the attack struck him from behind, causing his vision to go double. It took all his focus to remain airborne, though he could still see Ulmar, sans lab coat, stepping out from behind a large skull. "Wha-?"

"Ulmar's not one of the big brains in the Underworld for nothing. He knew Lord van Bloot can turn invisible in Gothos Tower, even if I didn't." Will cackled with Ulmar's voice, looking up at him with a wicked sharp-toothed grin. "Just like he knew van Bloot needs to concentrate to use it. Hard to do that when you're too busy staying in the air. Telekinetic Bolt!"

Ulmar's exposed brain pulsed, a rattling noise making van Bloot to look up. A chain on the wall snapped from the force of Ulmar's attack, causing a chandelier just above the Underworlder to plummet, pinning van Bloot to the floor.

"No!" He yelled, straining to lift the heavy decoration. "Geo Flourish!" There was an awkward silence, the two creatures looking at each other when nothing happened.

"Oookay" Ulmar reached behind his back and pulled out his battlegear, a small metallic orb.

"What's that? van Bloot sneered, still fighting with the weight of the fixture. "A wind-up toy?"

"Kinda" Ulmar replied, twisting the pieces of the device.. "It's a Nexus Fuse. Normally gives creatures a small energy boost, but when you overload it..." van Bloot's eyes widened in realization, and he struggled harder, helpless to stop the bomb as it left Ulmar's grasp and landed somewhere on the chandelier.

The explosion from the blast filled the screen and when it cleared, Ulmar was back in the Imthor Drome, watching an indignant Klay stamping his foot in a tantrum.

"Haha!" Jacob pumped his fist and high-fived Hank while other cheered around them. "I love seeing that smarmy jerk get knocked down a peg!"

"I would've won if my Geo Flourish worked!" Klay was shouting at the spinning Chaotic emblem in the center of the Drome. "What happened?'

"The fault was your own" the robotic voice of the drome declared. "When you used Terraport to change the location, you exhausted the ability to use Earth attacks. Without the Earth element, Lord van Bloot was no longer a valid target for the Mugic"

Klay grumbled at this chose to direct his anger at Will. "And you! Wipe that smirk off your face. This isn't over. I will NOT lose to a newbie."

"Didn't you just, though?" Will asked, leaving Klay to stomp out of the Drome.

* * *

"...and then I hid my-Ulmar's-whoevers coat behind the armor where van Bloot would see it. I figured Klay was trying to scare me, so I let him think it was working when I was really setting a trap." Will explained, gesturing wildly with a tortilla chip, flinging cheese to the floor. "It was so wild! Is it like like all the time?"

"Pretty much" Jacob said between bites of a slice of pizza. "Did better than I did in my first match, though"

"Oh, you mean when you slipped in the mud in Gloommuck Swamp?" Hank poked his friend with a french fry. "The match literally just started, and Biondu here" he jabbed a thumb at Jacob "got a maw full of gunk before the 10-second mark"

"You're one to talk, Mr. Maglax-Attacks-Frafdo" he snapped back. "He spent half his first match getting knocked around the Storm Tunnel before he got coded against some rocks" The two friends shared a hearty laugh at the memory.

"Wait, you saw each others first match?" Will asked.

"Yup. Got our codes at the same time" Hank said "We go to the same school back on Earth, had some mutual friends, but never really talked until" He paused to take a drink, so Jacob picked up the story.

"A friend introduced us to the game, and we picked up on it quick. A few weeks later, we were playing online at the library when we got our codes. Put them in, and here we were" he finished, holding his arms out to gesture to the Port Court. "That was, what? Two months ago?"

"Closer to three" Hank offered. "Ever since, its been like one of those Japanese cartoons where people go to school and pretend everything is fine, but then they travel to a secret world full of monsters no one else knows about"

"Yeah, but instead of saving the world, we play card games" Will chipped in, garnering a chuckle from the two older boys.

"That's not all we do" Jacob pushed away from the table. "There's one more part of the Essential Chaotic Experience you have to, well...experience." He pulled out his Code Scanner and motioned for the other two to do the same.

"Imma hold off." Hank said, leaning back to put his feet up in Jacob's abandoned seat. "Go through my scans from Mommark's. Gonna chill here a bit, then catch up"

"Wait, where are we going?" Will was looking between them in confusion.

Jacob brought up his list of Location cards and flipped through them until he found one he was looking for: a town with tall buildings and a massive castle surrounded by sturdy walls, set against a bright sky.

"Kiru City"


	2. Scans And Scares

Chapter 2: Scans & Scares

"Kiru City? We can GO to Kiru City?" Jacob flinched away from Will's voice when the younger boy shouted. "We can go to the places in the game?"

"Yeah, anywhere you have a Location card for." he replied as they walked. "I figured Kiru would be a good place to start. Relatively safe, lots of creatures to scan. I think there's a museum there too..."

"Your friend said something about scans earlier." Will observed, swiping through his Locations.

"Yeah. Your Code Scanner is used for a lot more here than just uploading cards and checking out your deck. It's got a camera, voice recorder, clock, flashlight, video chat; it's more like a really small computer, or a smartphone." He stopped at a circular area with white platforms on the floor.

"This is the Transport Center. This is where you appear when you 'port in." Will noted, recognizing the area.

"Yup, if you bring up a Location card from your collection while standing here, and hit this" he pointed out a button on the Scanner "you can travel to that spot in Perim. Out there, everything, the Mugic, Battlegear, even Creatures are real. By using this" he brought up a function that looked like a camera with a targeting HUD "you can 'Scan' a creature, Mugic or whatever. Bring that scan back here, dock your Scanner at an open station and that card gets added to your deck to use online or here, in Chaotic."

"I wanna do that now" Will exclaimed, finally finding a copy of Kiru City.

"That's the plan, my dude. Ready?"

He nodded and pressed the button on his scanner. The Port Court faded to white around him, his vision clearing a moment later to reveal a bustling city.

Cobblestones lined the streets, wooden and stone buildings with flowering plants in the windows. It looked like a bazaar or outdoor market. Nearby, a teal-skinned humanoid boasted to passerby about the fresh fruit he was selling from a pushcart, while another gazelle-like creature was advertising "the finest silk, imported straight from Al Mipedim".

All the creatures, Will noticed, were either human-ish, with exaggerated features like elf ears or outrageous skin colors, or some kind of animal person. Aside from a black panther-man that may have been Attacat, he didn't recognize any of them. There were only a handful of humans, himself included, creatures giving them dirty looks and moving away defensively.

"Like there's more creatures than there are cards" he mused.

"Sure are" Jacob said, walking up to him from somewhere in the crowd. "Most beings in Perim are just normal. Creatures like Formicidor, Rothar, Blügon, Zhade, they have special training or powers that make them more likely to be scanned. This way." He pointed down a side street and tilted his head for Will to follow.

"So, if I scanned..." Will set his gaze on a vendor selling pottery "...him, I'd get a card with low stats and no special abilities?"

Jacob shrugged "Maybe. I don't know the guy. I DO know that cetain creatures get reputations for being powerful, or their abilities are well known enough that players feel comfortable going out of their way to scan them."

The crowd parted for the two as they walked, Will turning his head everytime something new or interesting crossed his view. There was a building that may have been a pet shop with animals like large rats, if not for the tuft of coarse hair at the tips of their tails and over-large ears, snoozing in the window. A small man covered in rich brown bird feathers with a hawk's beak handed a package to someone, adjusted a postman's cap on his head, then flew away. Children, two with orange skin, another with blue fur, played a game of tag.

Jacob pointed out some landmarks like Maxxor's castle, where the Overworld leader held court, the Barracks that housed the City's warriors while they underwent rigorous training, and...

"The Overworld arsenal" he declared, approaching a square sturdy building with bars on it's windows. A pair of guards flanked the front doors, helmets and masks covering their features, armor proudly displaying the Overworld emblem. They leveled their Cyclances at the two humans and glared suspiciously.

"Whoa!" Jacob put his hands up and looked to Will to do the same. "Just showing my friend around the city. Thought I'd introduce him to my good friend, Bodal" One of the guards stifled a snicker at this.

"Okay, my 'loose acquaintance', Bodal" Jacob corrected. "Is he in?"

"No outsiders" was their response.

"Come on, I'm not asking you to step aside so I can raid the place; I just want to talk to Bodal."

The guard that laughed muttered "No one _wants_ to talk to Bodal", and the other one gave him a leer. A beeping noise from the more professional guard's belt pouch caught his attention, and he pulled out an object made of crystal and metal. A faint voice could be heard coming from the thing, but the boys werent close enough to make it out.

"A pair of humans" the guard said into the device. More muffled speech and the guard looked them over. "A black tunic with short sleeves, pants with a lot of pockets. Dark blue and tan on the other." The response caused his eyes to widen in surprise. "Yes, sir" He stowed the item and informed them that "He'll be out in a moment."

"A moment" ended up being nearly 15 minutes.

"I don't see why I cant just scan of of these guys. They're guards, they gotta be good at fighting." Will was grumbling.

"Bad form to scan a creature without permission. You know that old myth about cameras stealing your soul?" Will nodded. "Taking someone's life, training, memories and copying it with a scanner? Reducing it to a picture and some code? A lot of creatures see it as the same thing. Most players do it anyway. Those players tend to get attacked by offended creatures"

"So I just get permission." Will held up his Scanner and approached the guards. "Hey, can I-?"

"No."

Will pouted and stomped back over to Jacob who chuckled. "You'll get your chance, dude."

"When?"

"Well, you could scan this area of the city." Jacob suggested. "When you scan a location, it's specific spot is saved in the card's code. Even though you have a copy of a location already, if you use the new one in a drome match, you'll appear wherever you took the scan. Good for setting up ambushes or sniper nests. Also, when you 'port to Perim with that specific location card, you'll appear right there."

"So, it's a good idea to have copies of the same location so I don't have to walk everywhere." Will agreed, pressing the button on his scanner. A buzzing noise emanated from the device, lines of blue light traced over the buildings and streets until a beep marked the completion of the scan. "Okay, but I still want to scan a creature, or some gear. When do we do that?"

"Right now. Let me do the talking." Jacob said, turning Will to face the opening door of the Armory. A short creature with green skin and large, bald head wearing blue and red robes stepped out.

"Well? We don't have all day" Bodal said in his prim tone.

The boys followed him into the armory, past shelves containing Elixers of Tenaticy that could increase the drinker's bravery and speed, Vlaric Shards to enhance one's ability with earth and stone attacks, triple-barreled flamethrowers called Pryoblasters, wind and lightning-generating Cyclances.

"Isn't Bodal super-weak, though?" Will whispered to Jacob.

"Bodal can be...difficult at times, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a smarter, well-connected creature in the Overworld" he whispered back.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Collins" Bodal said without turning back, but Jacob swore could hear the smallest trace of a smile on the creature's lips.

The group continued in silence to an office piled high with bookshelves and files. Bodal seated himself behind the desk and motioned for them to take a seat.

"Neat gizmo the guards outside have." Jacob said casually, refering to their comminicators.

"Yes," Bodal straighten his posture and gave the two humans a smug expression. "They were inspired by Chaotic players Scanners. They use a specialy harmonized quartz sheet to-" he quickly composed himself. "That's classified information! What do you want?

"I was giving my new friend here a tour around town, showing him the basics, and thought I might introduce you." Jacob smiled and properly introduced Will.

"You're here to scan battlegear" Bodal deadpanned, shaking Will's hand, but not taking his eyes of Jacob. "You can't fool me. I know that's the only reason humans come here"

"That's not true." Jacob did his best to look offended. "Last month, when I caught that player stealing sonic charges, I didn't scan ONE. I called for the guards and helped reclaim the gear, didnt I?" He gave Bodal a pointed look. "And when you got them all back, you said...?"

"I owe you my thanks" Bodal sighed. "Ignoring the fact that months of designing, construction, engineering and resources are reduced to little more than rules for a game; If you use our state-of-the art battlegear, other Chaotic players will find out about it and want to scan it too. Next thing you know, Chaor is sending in human spies to look at our weapons. Its a security risk". He folded his arms over his chest at this.

"Maybe," Jacob conceded. "But what about serviceable, early model gear? No risk in scanning one of those, right?"

"I don't want anything old or junky" Will grumbled, but was shushed by Jacob.

"I suppose that could work" Bodal tapped his chin thoughtfully. "We have a Torwegg, a Liquilizer, some Spectral Viewers that are still in working order, but technically out of rotation..." He stood abruptly. "Very well. Come with me, and don't touch anything"

Leaving the office, Will whispered to Jacob "Is it always this easy? Its like you barely had to convince him"

"Bodal's a good guy. I did him a solid and he knows it. After this, we're even. Besides, it's not like were actually _taking_ anything."

"And you're gonna use the favor he owes you on me? You could scan any of this for yourself, use it for battles or trades or something." Will gestured to a section containing staves and rings glowing with power.

"It's all good. I like helping out new players, like it's part of the adventure."

Bodal led them to a large room containing racks of tools and scrap, battlegear disassembled on workbenches and a tarp draped over a massive object.

"What's under here?" Will asked eagerly, lifting a corner of the sheet just to have his hand slapped by Bodal who reminded him "Don't. Touch. Anything." Will grumbled and shoved his hands in in pockets.

Bodal shot one more glance at Will and opened a series of lockers. Each had neatly organized pieces of gear within them. There were skulls with a mechanical lens protruding from one eye. Some had handles, while others had straps designed to fit around ones head.

"Spectral Viewers" Jacob explained with a wink. "Lets you see invisible creatures"

"Shut up" Will said, remembering his trouble with Lord van Bloot.

Just next to those, hanging on a hook like a backpack, was a oval-shaped piece of gear he knew was a Torwegg, a jetpack that powered up air-based attacks.

In the next were a pair of brown weapons that looked like a thick pipe fit with a D-shaped handle. Liquilizers, gear that could fire blasts of high-pressure water or shards of ice.

The last locker is what caught Will's attention. It contained a single object, like a plate of metal with small straps. "Never seen one of these before"

"It's called an Aquashield" Bodal supplied. "When activated, it creates an energized barrier of water to protect oneself from attacks and flames. Newer models have a function that allows one to drain the power cells, triggering a burst of restorative energy. This particular design lacks that feature."

"Your scanner can only hold one scan of each type at a time; gear, location, Mugic, creature. So make it count" Jacob said.

Will made a face at this. He really wanted to scan them all, but if he could only pick one, he knew which. He held up his scanner and a moment later, the Aquashield was displayed on the screen.

"Thanks, Bodal" Jacob shook the arsenal caretakers hand. "Let me know if I can help you with anything later?"

"I hope not, Mr. Collins. I wouldn't want a reputation for being inefficient."

Bodal was leading them to the front door when a massive crash caused him and Jacob to spin around in alarm. Will was sprawled facedown, battlegear haphazardly strewn about. He grimaced, stammering out an apology.

"You okay?" Jacob asked, giving him a hand up, while Bodal sputtered incoherently.

"I tripped" Will said, rubbing his shin where he struck it. "I'm so sorry, Bodal. Let me-" he reached down to help pick up the fallen weapons.

"No no no, you don't know my system." the fussy Overworlder cut in. "Just, wait over there," he waved at a section of wall and Will walked behind the racks to do so while Jacob chased a stray crystal orb into an adjoining room.

"I'm really sorry. It was an accident. I must've tripped on my own feet or something." Will repeated, a little louder than before.

"I understand" Bodal closed his eyes with a deep sigh. These humans were giving him a headache. A minute later, Jacob returned with the runaway orb and handed it over. "Thank you. I'll clean this up when you leave." Bodal said, leading them out the door.

Once alone, Will said "I didn't mean to make things difficult for you guys."

"No worries, dude. I honestly think organizing that stuff will be the highlight of his day. Next stop, the Overworld Library"

Will kept quiet the rest of the trip, merely nodding in agreeement when Jacob showed him something interesting. Eventually, Jacob asked him what was going on.

"You were so excited earlier. Now you're not. What's up"

Will was silent for a moment. "I hurt my leg when I fell. Nothing serious, but it still hurts."

Jacob's expression changed from worried to understanding. "And you were thinking about what happens when you get _really_ hurt here?" The younger boy nodded. "That's why I wanted you to come to Kiru City for your first trip."

He sat down on a nearby bench and patted the seat for Will to join him. "Remember what I said earlier about being here and on Earth at the same time when you send your code?" Will nodded again.

"Well, when you're here, and you get...seriously hurt, everything will be fine, as long as you can send your code back to your Earth-self. You'll keep the memories, and stuff that happens to your body here doesn't effect you back home. But if it's too late for that..." He let the statement hang.

"...we can't come back." Will guessed. "Our deck on Earth stays locked, and we won't know what happened. Just that _something_ happened here."

"Right. You lose your online account, card collection, and the ability to go to Chaotic. That's why we came here, to Kiru City. Kinda like a starting zone in an MMO. Well protected, low chance of getting attacked by hostile creatures as long as you don't do anything dumb, lots of stuff to scan, a chance to get your feet wet before you dive into Mount Pillar, or the Lava Pond."

"I'm not diving into the Lava Pond, period" Will joked and Jacob laughed with him.

"Too true."

They continued their walk with renewed vigor. Hank never met up with them, as he called to let them know he'd been challenged to a match in the Beta Drome. This let to Will asking how to submit challenges and other things about how Chaotic worked. A purple child bumped into Will and yelped in alarm at seeing the human, running off.

"What's up with that?" He asked watching the kid run "A lot of creatures in the market were acting like I was a leper, or I did something wrong."

"Imagine a bunch of aliens just started teleporting into your neighborhood, taking pictures and being nosy" Jacob said. "Not a lot of creatures in Perim understand us, and not a lot of humans care to understand them. The short answer is: a lot of creatures don't trust us. The fact that Bodal let us in at all is a small miracle, since he knows I won't do him dirty."

Will pondered this and idly reached for his scanner. His expression quickly became panicked and he started searching his pockets.

"What?"

"My scanner is gone!" Will turned in the direction of the running child. "That little- he stole my scanner!"

"Are you sure?" Jacob asked, reaching for his own. It was, thankfully, still there.

"Yeah! Let's go!" He took off running after the pickpocket.

"Go straight ahead! Keep following him" Jacob ordered. "I know a shortcut" He tapped some buttons on his scanner and vanished with a flash, reappearing on a rooftop a few block west of his old location. Leaning over the ledge, he could see the kid heading his way, pushing his way past creatures with Will in close pursuit. Another series of taps put him a block ahead, but on the ground this time and right in their path.

The thief saw Jacob waiting and changed direction, ducking down an ally. The boys continued their chase, their shouts at the child to stop going unanswered by himself or others. Queing up another scan of the City, Jacob 'ported ahead and landed directly in front of him, the boy stopping in his tracks. He tried to turn and crashing directly into Will, bouncing off him and hitting the ground.

"I didn't do nuffin'" the boy yelled, fighting Will's grip as he was pulled up by the arm. He was trying to shove Will's scanner into the waist of his trousers and Jacob grabbed it.

"No? Then where did you get this?" he asked, waving it at the creature "Only humans have Code Scanners." Will kept a grip on the boy, huffing for breath. "Got it. And _that_ is why you should have multiple copies of a location" Jacob told him, and he got a thumbs-up in return.

"What did you think you were gonna do with that?" Will asked, roughly releasing him and shoving his scanner deep into his front pocket."They only work for the human it was made for. You couldn't do anything with it."

"No" the pickpocket gave him a withering look. "But I can keep _you_ from using it. Humans need to quit stomping around here, like they own the place." He gave them a rude hand sign and ran off.

The silence between the two was heavy in the air as they watched him go.

"Let's go back to Chaotic, yeah?" Jacob suggested.

The Transport Center was lightly populated when they 'ported back in. "Getting late" Jacob noted, checking his wristwatch. "Almost 10"

"PM? it was daylight a just a second ago." Will said, looking out a nearby window. "and it's still bright out here"

"Perim and Earth have their own time spans. And it's always sunny in Chaotic." He pointed out his watch. "That's why I keep this synched to Earth time."

"Do we have to leave? Does Chaotic close overnight, or something?"

"Nah", Jacob said. "You can stay as long as you want. Some people even make camping trips out of it, going to Perim on weekends for scan quests. But like I said earlier, if you dont 'port back home every now and again, the 'you' back home might think something happened."

"I guess you're right. Still, I wanna hang around here a bit longer, explore on my own a bit"

"Alright man. Take is easy, okay? Welcome to Chaotic"

Will waved as Jacob walked back to the Transport Center. Taking a seat at one of the scan stations, he rubbed the bruise on his leg. 'It hurt, falling like that.' he thought to himself, docking his scanner and looking at his new cards. 'But it got me a scan of the inside of Bodal's Arsenal'.

Smiling, he started planning his next trip to Perim.


	3. Spoilin' For A Fight

Chapter 3:

Hank and Jacob sat in the school's library during study hall, homework forgotten beside them, having a whispered debate.

"There's no way Chaor loses to Prince Mudeenu" Jacob hissed. "He's the ruler of the Underworld. Hundreds, no, thousands of soldiers at his command. Not to mention knowledge of the best and most powerful fire attacks in Perim"

"Mudeenu has soldiers too. AND they're invisible." Hank snapped back. "Know who else can turn invisible? Prince Mudeenu!" He smacked a hand on the table at this, immediately cringing at the outburst. No one else seemed bothered by the sudden noise, and he continued with a lower voice. "He's a master of guerilla tactics, too. He's like a VC of the desert."

"Doesn't matter. Chaor is always dealing with van Bloot trying to backstab him. You think he doesnt carry a pair of Spectral Viewers or a Song of Truesight with him at all times?" The argument kept going on for almost an hour, until the end of the period.

On the way to their lockers, Jacob finally said what had been bothering Hank all day, yet refused to admit. "You're not even mad that you lost. You're mad you got shut out."

Hank grumbled at his friend's observation, but didn't refute it. Instead he tossed a notebook in his locker and slammed the door. He had a match in Battledrome Tirasis the night before, and his team of Midpedians had lost soundly to an Underworld enthusiast. In the 6-on-6 match, he hadn't beaten one single enemy creature, losing all of his in ways that were humiliating, brutal, or both.

He had a series of brief mental flashbacks: the toadlike Toxis leaping onto Ario's chest, pinning him down and engulfing with him with it's noxious breath. The minotaur Rothar charging at Biondu with a massive axe, fury in his eyes. A living mass of magma bursting from the Lava Pond like Jaws, grabbing Zhade and dragging him into the caldera kicking and screaming.

The final blow to the burly boy was when he had tried to use the Song of Reversal to put Chaor in the path of his own Ember Swarm. The demonesque Underworlder ducked the attack as the notes finished playing, and countered with a Flame Orb, coding the Mipedian Prince. Upon demanding to know how the player predicted his move, she laughed in Hank's face and reminded him that the Song of Futuresight played earlier gave a brief glimpse of the end of the match. Ever since, he had been been in a foul mood, complaining about the beating his lizardfolk received.

"Why don't you just request a rematch?" his friend asked.

"Coach'll blow a gasket if I'm late to practice. I won't have time to go home and grab my scanner." The school has recently added cards and Code Scanners to their list of banned items, calling them "gambling paraphenalia". The two started getting into the habit of leaving their scanners at home, not sending themselves to Chaotic until after school in case something happened in Perim and needed to port back in a hurry.

"I didn't say it had to be right now. Doesn't even need to be today." Jacob leaned against his locker. "Tomorrow's Friday, take a day to get your head together, and send out the challenge tomorrow after school. That'll give you a day to make a plan, strategize, and the whole weekend to celebrate."

"Maybe." he agreed with a shrug. "I gotta go"

The team was shoving each other around and joking when he got down to the field, an activity that stopped when Coach Williams blew into his whistle and set them on warmups and stretches. He was still stewing during laps and his temper finally reached it's breaking point during tackle drills. Bad footing while driving a tackling dummy caused him to slip and, in a fit of anger, he swung a punch at it.

"Fallon!" The coach shouted, stomping over.

"Sorry, coach." Hank picked himself up and dusted the grass off his uniform, avoiding eye contact. "Bad day." Williams angry expressioned softened a small amount.

"I see that, just try not to take it out on the equipment, alright?" He took off his cap and wiped his brow. "It's one thing to be angry, but it's another to be so reckless you risk hurting yourself. Now, go take a lap and come back with a cooler head"

"Yes, sir" Hank set off at a brisk jog around the track while Coach blew his whistle and got everyone back on task.

Halfway around the track, his coach's words started to sink in. By the time he finished the lap, he was calm. When practice ended, he was smiling.

Jacob was in Chaotic, ejoying a burger, watching a match on one of the oversize monitors when Hank showed up.

"Hey, what's up?" Jacob set down his food, giving his friend a fist bump.

"I sent out the challenge. I need to be ready by tomorrow" Hank said, pulling up a seat and grabbing a french fry.

"Not waiting 'till the weekend?"

"Nope. Remember the mugic I picked up from Mommark last week when you were giving the new kid a tour? I never got around to showing it to you." Hank pulled out his orange scanner and brough it up on the screen. He slid the device over and waiting for his friend's reaction.

Jacob looked at the Mugic on display and did a double take. "Is this-?"

Hank nodded eagerly "Uh huh"

"Oh, that's too good! What else do you need?" Jacob asked with a laugh.

"I've got the creatures and mugic" Hank looked around conspiratorially and leaned over the table. "I can get the gear I need easy enough too, unless you know where I can find a Levitaar"

"Oh, yeah, I keep a flying car in my back pocket." Jacob quipped then paused. "Last time I was in Bodal's workshop, he was hiding something under a big tarp. It could've been one, but I can't get back in."

"Doesn't Ambassador Raznus have one?" Hank stole a few more fries.

Jacob pulled the plate away with a scowl. "You'd have to find him first. I dont have a scan of the Mt. Pillar Embassy. And no, I'm not going to get one. That place makes my skin crawl"

Hank surpressed a shudder. Their last trip to Mount Pillar had ended with them in a slimy-walled prison, held hostage by Danian Mandiblors. They weren't even trying to scan anything, just explore the region. Neither one of them had any love for the tribe of giant humanoid ants since then.

"Fair enough. My match is at Tirasis in an hour" he grabed the plate and dragged it back. "What'll it take to get a Lake Ken-I-Po scan from you?"

"For starters, get your own food!"

"Feral_Ghuul, you have been challenged by Thondar-Struck to a 6-on-6 match." the mechanical voice of Battledrome Tirasis announced. "You will be the attacker. Please spin the location randomizer."

Across the arena stood a skinny girl with short green-dyed hair and punkish clothes; ripped jeans, heavy boots and a tanktop with a logo for a metal band he didn't recognize. She gave the dial a firm spin: it landed on an image of a huge hourglass-shaped column of stone supporting a massive cavern.

"Stone Pillar" the announcer continued in it's synthetic monotone. "Please choose the attacking and target creature"

"Rothar attacks Ribbian" She and Hank pressed their hands against their cards. A swirling mass of white-blue numbers and letters transformed the two from the ground up, the girl into a red minotaur in greek armor with a large axe, Hank into a muscular orange lizardman with blue shoulder, knee, and elbow pads.

A long hum and flash of light marked the transition from Battledrome to Stone Pillar, Ribbian finding himself near the ruins of a short stone building, half-collapsed from age or battle. His activated his battlegear, a circular device that spun rapidly and took off into the sky. While the Aerodrone searched for Rothar, Ribbian tapped into his Mipedian heritage, vanishing from veiw.

A crashing sound ahead made him narrow his gaze, a plume of smoke rising from a host of other outbuildings. With a bellow of fury, Rothar charged forth from the ruins, a mechanical lens attached to a skull strapped to his head. Through the invisibility-piercing of the Spectral Viewer, he looked directly at Ribbian and brought his axe crashing down with a cry of "Rock Wave!". The ground rippled where the axe struck, creating a blast of earth and stone that surged towards Ribbian.

"Wind Slash!" Thusting his hands out, Ribbian summoned a blast of air that pushed against the ground, launching him out of the way of the pile of rocks hurtling towards him. Rothar snarled at this, the eye of his battlegear whiring and focusing on the Mipedian scout.

"That's gotta go."

Back at the Port Court Jacob and the assembled onlookers watched two Mugic Counters vanish from Xelphe, one moving to a grey heptagon, the other to a red one, on Hank's side of the board.

"Chorus of Cothica! Discord of Disarming!"

A red glow engulfed Rothar's headgear as the Mugic took hold, causing it to sputter and smoke. Yanking it off, the gear exploded at the minotaur's feet and Rothar gave a grudging smile. Ribbian smiled back before vanishing again, dodging a spray of sharp stones.

"So far, so good." Hank thought, using Ribbian's claws to climb the side of a nearby building. Below, Rothar was smashing everything in sight trying to find his foe. He had just started moving into position behind him, when a low wail sounded out from behind a door at the base of the pillar. It was growing louder, or perhaps closer.

"What was that?" a bystander asked. A girl nearby supplied the answer.

"Stone Pillar is super haunted. It used to be a big Underworld Outpost until a Mugician went nuts and started attacking everyone."

"No, I heard the Mugician is protecting it after a bunch of Overworlders sacked it."

This kicked off a minor debate about the various rumors people had heard about the location. Jacob tried to shut them out and focus on the screen where Ribbian had just popped into veiw behind Rothar, alarm visible on his face.

Rothar turned at the noise coming from the pillar just in time to see the door burst open. A deep red Mugician, the spirits that allowed Mugic to be cast, made a beeline for the fighters. Ribbian leapt out of the way, but Rothar stood firm, allowing the spirit to collide with him, causing him to grunt in pain for just a moment before he turned back to the Mipedian.

"Melody of Malady!"

"Oh, crud" Ribbian muttered, watching the spirit leave Rothar's body, apparently under his control. It entered a heptagon-shaped ring of red quartz floating above Rothar, trigging a series of harsh cacophonous notes that left Ribbian's ears pounding as they reduced his energy. Rother, however, stood taller as the mugic removed dust and damge from his previous rampage.

"Now, where were we? Oh yeah: Ash Torrent!" Rothar opened his mouth and released a gout of burning ash like a dragon would breathe fire.

"Funnel Blast" Ribbian countered, spinning in place at high speed, blowing some of the ash back at Rothar, who coughed and choked.

"Thunder Shout!" the two screamed in unison. Powerful blasts of sound mixed with their yell, colliding in the air to trigger an explosion that lauched them both backwards.

Ribbian found himself back in the Battledrome while the punk girl looked equal parts amused and annoyed as he transformed back.

"Thought I had you back there." she eyed him curiously. "How'd you do it?"

Hank just winked at her in reply. Even if he lost now, at least it wasn't another shut out.

"Thondar-Struck, it is your move" the announcer reminded him.

"Right," Spinning the Location Randomizer, it landed on a picture of a small dessert settlement with a large well at it's center. "Viqtarr attacks Magmon at the Mipedian Dew Farm." Hank declared.

This transformation was a marked difference from the previous, the code enlarging his body taller and wider until Hank stood there in the form of a large bipedal grizzly bear wearing a kilt and sash with a blue eyepatch. Across from him, was a living mass of lava and obsidion in the rough shape of a human.

The sandy terrain was difficult for Viqtarr to traverse, being more comfortable in snowy forests, but it _did_ make Magmon easier to track. All throughout the village were spots where Magmon's superheated body turned the sand into patches of glass.

"Need to draw him out" Hank thought to himself. Summoning his battlegear, a delicate harp, he strummed out a tune and declared "Song of Focus!" The notes of the Mugic echoed through the village, bathing Viqtarr in a gentle blue glue. The sound must've reached the Underworlder, since he stomped into Viqtarr's line of sight a minute later.

"Bad idea, giving away your position like that" he sneered.

"Did exactly what I meant it to" Viqtarr countered. The two stared at each other, like an Old West showdown.

"Lavalanche!" Magmon snapped, ejecting a powerful stream of molten rock from his chest. The attack struck true, coating Viqtarr and hardening around him. The bear-man simply grinned and flexed, cracks forming in the obsidion shell until it shattered, freeing him.

"Viqtarr can ignore damage from an attack if his stats are higher than his opponent's" Hank bragged in the beast's thick growl. "Good effort, though"

At this, Magmon growled furiously and fired off a salvo of attacks. Balls of fire, swarms of burning embers, and lashes with a burning whip collided with Viqtarr's blasts of icy wind and streams of water. The lava monster was so focused on attacking, blinded by steam from the combined elements that he didn't see the trick until it was too late.

With a shout of "Iron Balls!" Viqtarr's eyes shone brightly, launching a volley of heave metal orbs at Magmon, knocking the creature off balance. Staggering backwards, Magmon felt the edge of the well just before he tripped into it, sending up a gout of steam and code.

"Okay, now I _know_ youre up to something" the girl declared once they were back in the Drome. " Even outside the Lava Pond, Magmon is no pushover."

Hank shrugged. "Guess I'm doing a better job keeping a cool head"

Another spin of the Randomizer set the battle at Underworld City, where it was decided that Chaor would attack Ribbian.

The massive capital of the the Underworld tribe was well known to most players, but Hank had few opportunities to visit, since the creatures there were mostly unfriendly to humans. Unfamiliar with the area as he was, the Areodrone was sent up once more to scout, while Ribban went invisible.

"Didn't we just do this dance a bit ago?" Chaor growled, stepping out of the shadows with a Spectral Viewer.

"I guess you're right." Moment of truth. "I hope you don't mine if I change the tune. Aria of Enragement!"

The final mugic counter vanished from Xelph, powering the Mugic targeting Chaor. Jacob perched on the edge of his seat while the people around him cheered for either side.

A yellow beam of light shot forth from the mugic to strike Chaor in the center of his forehead. His breathing started to quicken until he let out a shout that shook the surrounding buildings. With fury in his eyes, Chaor slowly advanced on the Mipedian, summoning a ball of fire in each hand. Ribbian backed away, eyes darting around for escape routes.

"You really thought you could take me!?" the leader of the Underworld roared. "All you've done is make me angry!"

"Yeah, that's kinda the point, bonehead." Ribbian leapt to the side as the the fireballs impacted where he had been standing. "I mean, you're angry, big deal." He ducked another pair of flaming spheres. "I get angry all the time. But eventually-" A fist made of green energy made him stop short, nearly taking his head off. "-you do something stupid and get hurt."

Chaor tilted his head curiously at this, the mugic still muddling his thoughts. A cracking sound made it way past his frustration and he realised what had happened. His attacks had weakened the stucture behind Ribbian, and it was starting to collapse. He turned to run.

"Oh, no. Vine Snare!" Ribban called out, summoning a tangle of thick plants to wrap around Chaor's legs while he ran from the crumbling building. Chaor fought with the vines, breaking from their hold not a moment too soon. The falling rock painfully striking his body, he rolled away from the rubble and summoned his goggles, scanning the area for the sneaky lizard.

An approaching whirring noise made Chaor spin around, striking out with his powerful tail. The appendage lengthened, wrapping around an incoming object, crushing it. Seeing the pieces of the destroyed Aerodrone lodged in his tail, Chaor struggled to force down his temper with a loud growl.

"Better, but you still shouldn't lash out like that." Ribbian was crouched atop atop a statue of the Underworlder, a memorial to one of his many achievements.

"No? How about like this? Viper Lash!" Chaor lunged forward and stretched out a hand, the nature of the attack turning his clawed fingers into venomous snakes that snapped forward to bite down on Ribbian. The blow struck hard and Ribbian yelped in pain, grabbing the head of one of the offending serpents.

"Lightning Burst!" He channeled the electricity of his attack into the snake, watching the surge of power travel down the animal's body and into Chaor, who shouted in pain before exploding into code.

"I'm on to you, now" the girl said inside the Battledrome. "You gave away your strategy when you used that Aria of Enragement." She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted a bit. "All my creatures have the Recklessness ability, they do a bit of damage to themselves when they attack, and you've been using it against them."

"But not Chaor", Hank pointed out. "Hence the Aria. Still, you got it."

She muttered something under her breath that would probably have the Codemasters banning her from the Battledromes for a week had it been any louder, and spun the Location Randomizer with a little more force than was necessary.

Barrath Beyond vs Viqtarr saw Hank's first loss of the match, the heat of the Lava Pond quickly overheating the grizzly under his thick fur coat. The robotic Underworlder had pummeled him mercilessly from atop his Viledriver, a bipedal weapons platform.

The next two rounds didn't go his way, either. Ario attacked Barrath Beyond at Mipedim Oasis where a lucky shot to Ario's Torwegg had him crash-landing only a minute into the fight. Barrath went on to attack Ribbian in the Underworld Colosseum where, with no battlegear or cover, he fell under a barrage of fire, despite disabling the Viledriver.

Prince Mudeenu's attack on Toxis broke the streak of losses when the Mipedian royal used his Cyclance to literally blow the frog away, launching him off a cliff at Ravanaugh Ridge. That victory was short-lived when Barrath Beyond attacked the Prince in the Underworld prison simply known as The Pits. Getting locked in a cell with...something resulted in nothing but a blast of code from the darkness behind the bars.

Xelphe on his Mowercycle made short work of Nauthilax, the aquatic swamp monster of an Underworlder drying out in the inhospitable desert while the Mipedian literally ran circles around him on the sawblade-esque vehicle. Barrath Beyond once again dominated the battle against Xelphe, the Viledriver's weapons easily overcoming the Mowercycle's speed in a vehicular tussle at the Passage between the Overworld and Underworld.

"I gotta say, your Barrath is getting on my nerves" Hank laughed "Seriously, you're a beast with that thing"

"You're one to talk." she said with a grin after transforming back. "You're pretty good when you're not all flustered."

Hank bit back the comment forming in his head, and instead chose to use the Location Randomizer. The result was a large building at the edge of a forest with a large tower seemingly carved from crystal.

"Yes, Castle Mommark!" Hank punched the air. "When this baby comes up, we can sacrifice a creature and return another one that was destroyed, to the board." He flipped through his list of coded creatures. "You want in?"

"I'll stick with a good thing, thanks"

"Your loss. Goodbye Najarin, hello Ribbian" He placed the wizened muge into the virtual discard pile, then pulled out the lizardman and placed it right next to Barrath Beyond.

"You know what happens next" Hank said, pressing his hand against the card.

The battle began for Ribbian in what Hank refered to as "The Zoo". No clue what Mommark called it, but it was a large room that held cages, tanks, and other enclosures the geneticist kept his creations in until he determined whether they were safe or not. Going invisible, he stealthily made his way though the building searching for Barrath.

Eventually, he found the Underworlder exiting one of Mommark's research rooms. He must've bumped something, or maybe it was a lucky guess, but Barrath rounded on him with a shout of "Power Pulse!", releasing blasts of energy from his palms. The shot knocked Ribbian down and out of his invisibility.

He countered with his latent aerokinetic powers, summoning a gust of hampering winds to slow Barrath down. Over the sound of rushing air, Ribbian shouted "You like that Aria before? Meet it's big brother: Carnivore's Keening!"

The triggering notes of the Mugic washed over Barrath, but something was different. He seemed to swell with power, standing taller and pushing back against the gale-force winds.

In the Port Court, Jacob's jaw dropped as the effect of the mugic raised Barrath Beyond's energy to a whopping 80 points! "I don't wanna know why Mommark had that, but I want one" he thought to himself.

Barrath advanced on Ribbian, treating the raging storm as little more than an inconvenient breeze. The Mipedian took a few steps back while maintaining the winds, but decided a stategic retreat was in order. He cut off the attack and dashed into a room, slamming the door.

A fireball obliterated the door frame and the spectators of the match watched as Barrath's energy went down by 20 points.

"Wait, what happened?"

"He didn't even hit back"

Jacob filled in the confused viewers. "The mugic Hank used gave Barrath a big energy boost, but it also ramped up his recklessness. Every time Barrath attacks now, he'll lose even more of his energy."

A bolt of lightning shot through the shattered door just missing Barreth and he retaliated by filling the hallway with flames shot from his hands, advancing into the room as he went. When the conflagration died down, the room was empty, save for charred bookshelves, warped metal tables, shattered glassware and a single open window.

Leaning his head out the window revealed a two story drop, no sign of the wily reptile. A blow to the top of his head changed that opinion and he had to grip the windowsill to avoid falling out. Ribbian was clinging to the wall above him and raining down blows with a clawed foot.

"Thats _enough_!" Barrath grabbed Ribbian by the tail and pulled, detatching him from the wall and throwing him to the ground. Ribbian reached out and shot lengths of vines from his hands to stop the fall and missed his mark, wrapping them around Barrath's torso. This started a small struggle where Barrath tried to shake him off and Ribbian held on even tighter until Barrath got fed up and simply started throwing fireballs down at him.

There was shower of code and both humans blinked at each other across the Battledrome.

"W-what just happened?" Hank asked.

"The match is a draw" the drome announcer declared.

"No way!"

"How?"

"Barrath Beyond's Flame Orb reduced Ribbian's energy to zero. Barrath Beyond's energy was reduced to zero in the same attack by its own Recklessness ability"

This statement was met with silence as they pocessed this, oblivious to the jeers of the battle's witnesses in the Port Court who were upset by the lack of a clear winner.

The pair left the drome together, neither saying anything to the other until they were outside.

"I gotta say, Feral_Ghuul, that was pretty good"

"Back at'cha, Thondar-Struck" she emphasised his screen name in a light teasing tone.

He took the hint. "Hank" he said holding out a hand. She shook it.

"Monica"

Hank paused, his mouth suddenly dry. "You wanna walk with me back to the Port Court? Maybe get a pizza?"

Monica gave him a small smile. "Sure."

Author notes: Trying to write a full 6v6 match was mentally exhausting; it's left me burnt out on fight scenes for the time being. Next week, we go back to Perim!


	4. No Flux To Give

Chapter 4: No Flux To Give

Jacob tied the tightly rolled sleeping bag to the bottom on his backpack and reached into another bag nearby to munch on some chips. A pipe had burst in school earlier that day, allowing him to start his weekend vacation in Perim a good day a half sooner than expected. He spend that time stocking up on supplies while waiting for Hank and Monica. The serving bots were more than happy to bring over some dry foods that would keep while they spend the next three days scouting a cave they found in the Riverlands on their last trip.

"We going camping, or are gonna _live_ in Perim?" Monica joked, walking up with Hank and staring wide-eyed at Jacob's small mountain of equipment. The two had formed a fast friendship since their last match, and Hank asked if she could come with. Jacob was more than happy to have the punk-styled girl along. While Hank was in his customary track pants, running shoes and jersey, and Jacob was in his usual black tee and cargo pants, Monica favored a black hoodie with a band logo and shorts over tights with heavy boots.

"It's not camping if you keep going back for stuff. Besides, you never know what could happen" Jacob said, placing some matches in a side pocket. "Remember last month in Glacier Plains?"

"Blizzard left us stuck at the Crystal Range" Hank explained to the curious Monica. "Somebody" he glared at Jacob "insisted we couldn't leave until he can a new scan of the other side of the valley"

"And somebody else agreed" he glared back, stuffing some thin blue and silver cans in the bag.

"Didn't know you drink those."

"I don't" Jacob hefted the backpack onto his shoulders, testing its weight. "I know a bakery in Kiru City. The old lady that owns it makes these fruit-filled scone things. I dont remember what they're called, but they're amazing. I'll pop in on days her grandson is working, and he'll trade me some for Earth energy drinks. Gonna swing by before we leave."

"How did that arrangement even come up?" Monica wondered.

"College students pulling all-nighters are universal. Be back soon"

He arrived in an alleyway, just off the main Residential District. Maxxor's Castle loomed above this part of the city, but it felt more safe than intimidating. He had just rounded a corner when a voice called out "Hey, you!". A pair of Kiru City guards were fast approaching, and he stopped so they could catch up.

"Yes?"

"Don't let him get away" one shouted, and he turned to see another pair of guards headed towards him with Cyclances drawn.

"What seems to be the prob-WOAH" He ducked a spray of hard stones and grabbed his scanner, vanishing just as the guards reached for him.

A few blocks over, a bell over the door rang cheerily when Jacob entered, giving a shaky wave to the creature behind the counter. He was humanoid, with grey skin and two pairs of sharp tusks jutting from his jaw, one pair curling high enough to nearly touch his forehead, the other sticking almost straight out. Jacob thought he looked like an Orc from a fantasy novel.

"What's up Birusa? Brought some of those drinks you-"

Birusa's eyes widened over his hog-like snout. Panicked, he shushed the human and whipped his head around looking for anyone else in inside before rushing to the door, flipping the sign to "Closed" and closing the blinds.

Jacob was confused. "What's the-?"

"Did anyone see you come in?"

"No...? Why, It's never been a problem before. What's up?"

"The guards are looking for you" Birusa informed him in a low voice. "Something about a break-in at the Armory."

"I had a run in with them earlier, but I thought it was one of those 'all humans look the same' scenarios" he said, indignant. "I haven't been there in, like, two weeks. Not since I last talked to Bodal. I've barely even been in Kiru since then."

"Really?" the young Overworlder looked relieved then apologetic. "I mean, I knew you wouldn't do that." They sat down in a booth and Birusa took one of the cans from Jacob. He cracked it open, took a long drink and let out a sigh of contentment.

"I don't know how humans go without these."

"Some can't. Now tell me why the cops are after me?"

"Oh, right." He set the can down and leaned forward. "Almost a week ago, the guards caught a human inside, going through the gear in Bodal's workshop. When they tried to stop him, he used a Liquilizer to freeze one in place and vanished with one of those transporters you guys carry."

"A Scanner" Jacob corrected. "But what's that gotta do with me?"

"The guard they thawed out recognized him. Said he was there with you about a week before that."

"Two weeks ago...Will?" Jacob leaned back in the booth and frowned. "How did he get in?"

"Must've warped in" Birusa took another, smaller drink. "Rumor has it here was no forced entry, all the doors were good."

"No way. To 'port in, he'd have to get a scan of the inside. I would've seen and stopped him. Bodal would've stopped him."

"You two were with him the whole time? Never alone?"

"Yeah. Except for..." He had a brief flashback: Will tripping and knocking over a rack of gear, himself running off to chase an orb. Out of the room for maybe 30 seconds, he could easily imagine Will hiding behind something while Bodal fussed over the scattered battlegear, oblivious to the light and sound of the scanner as it analyzed the room, overwritting the scan of the outside of the building in favor of the interior.

"I'm gonna get that little twerp. He was complaining about not getting to see any of the rarer gear. Guess he decided to come back later on his own."

"How or why, they think you helped him break in."

"I didn't though!"

Birusa help his hands up in a placating way. "I know, I believe you. I mean, I had thoughts, but you-"

"No, you're fine" Jacob shook his head and got out his scanner. "I need to sort this mess out."

Hank and Monica were splitting up the rest of the camping equipment between them when Hank's pocket started ringing. Fumbling with a portable camp stove, he fished out his scanner and answered it, Jacob's face appearing on screen. "Yo, got your danishes, or whatever?"

Five minutes later, Hank ended the call.

"So," he told Monica "Looks like I got a job to do before we go. Wanna come with?"

"I was hoping you'd ask"

Guards patrolled the perimeter of the arsenal in groups of two that night, eyes peeled for any intruders, or worse, humans. Every few minutes, a team would stop at the main door, check it, then move on. The lights inside were dim, and Jacob was unable to see any movement inside from his perch atop a nearby building. Setting down his binoculars, he stretched the kinks out of his back before going back to reconnaissance.

There had been no sight of Will, or any other human, since sundown. After a brief talk with Hank, they agreed to keep an eye on the place until the weekend, or they caught the younger boy breaking in again. Many new players had a habit of being selfish with their scanning, and hopefully Will would be no different. A faint glimmer through one of the lower windows caught his eye, and he immediatly dialed his friend via scanner.

"I think we got something, lower window, East side"

"I saw it" Hank responded from behind a vendor stall. Through his own binoculars, he could see a shadowy form moving around inside. "Definitely a Chaotic player. 'Ported right in. Lucky for him he hit a patrol gap. What's the plan?"

"Any chance you can tip the guards off?"

"Doubt it. They look pretty edgy, they'd probably shoot first, and forget to ask questions"

Their scanners vibrated to indicate Monica trying to set up a group call, and Jacob brought her in. "There's something happening at the West end. The patrols are heading towards the castle!"

Jacob cursed under his breath. "Can you see what it is?"

"No, but there's smoke and two groups left the rounds."

"Come around to the East," Hank suggested. "someone's here, and it's probably the same someone drawing the guards out."

By the time Jacob climbed down from his perch, Monica was jogging up and Hank was waving them over to the stall. A hushed conversation ensued where they put together an idea. When the next patrol passed, the three snuck over to the window. With nary a grunt of effort, Hank gave Jacob a leg up through the bars, where he landed inside as quietly as he could.

Deciding against using his flashlight, he slowly crept through the rows of weapons, straining his ears for unusual sounds. Lamps kept the area dimly illuminated, but deep shadows embraced the shelves where the light couldn't reach. Keeping to these pools of darkness, he made his way to the workshop where any new or experimental gear would be kept alongside older pieces undergoing repairs.

The door to the room was slightly ajar, brighter light than the main storage area filtering through the crack. A shadow passed by from within, causing Jacob to freeze. He cautiously peeked through the gap into the shop and saw a small human in dark pants and hoodie carefully lift up a small dagger from the bench, inspect it, shake their head, and set it back down. The process repeated for a pair of blue and yellow gauntlets, and a long green gem set into a bracer.

"What have we here? the intruder mumbled, picking up a bright blue Mugic crystal. Jacob bristled at Will's voice, ready to barge into the room, but held himself in check. His eyes widened seeing the boy place the mugic in his pocket instead of scanning it. Will opened a file cabinet next, and Jacob use the scraping of the drawers to cover his opening of the door.

Sliding into the room, he shut the door as quietly he could and let out a low "psst". Will jumped about a foot in the air at the noise and had his scanner in his hand before he realized who it was.

"Jeez, you almost gave me a heart attack. What are you doing here?"

"Me?" Jacob whispered "What about you? You got busted once already, and got ME in hot water with the locals. What where you thinking?"

"Uh, that I wanted some good gear?" Will went back to flipping through the drawers contents "I don't know what you're getting so bent out of shape about. It's not like they're real or anything"

Jacob's brow furrowed in confusion. "How do you figure?"

"Because it's obvious" Will shut the drawer and turned to look Jacob in the eye. "_We're_ real. This whole place is just a big elaborate video game, and they're nothing but really well-programmed NPCs. We can take everything they are and bring it to our world, but they can't do the same to us. We can affect their world, but not the other way around. This whole place exists for us, and they're just here for us to use."

"Oh really? Then why don't I just call the guards in here and they fill the room with lightning bolts? Or I can grab some Nexus Fuses from the other room? You know what those do." Jacob put himself in the boys face, voice raising from a whisper to a low hiss "You like coming here? Then you better wise up. You don't get extra lives. You can't reload a save. Once you're done here, youre _done, _and this kind of attitude will see that happen sooner rather than later." Will took a step back, startled at the older boy's sudden annoyance.

"Get away!" he grabbed an object from the desk and swinging it wildly. Jacob instinctively ducked at the caged orb Will was holding by a length of chain and felt his stomach twist. The workshop was gone, the smell of oil and metal replace with something rotten that hung heavy in the air. They were standing in green ankle-deep water and massive bones littered the landscape.

"What did you do?" they snapped at each other

"I was trying to get you out of my face!" Will snapped, cocking his arm back like he was going to throw the orb at him.

"I didn't bring us here. How could I?" Jacob took in the area around him. "My best guess: looks like we're in Skeletal Springs."

"Where's that?"

Jacob shrugged "Somerwhere in the Overworld, that's all I know. Never actually visited before."

"That still doesn't explain why we're here" Will clipped the sphere's chain to a ring on his belt, freeing his hands to take a scan of the location for himself. Jacob took the opportunity to inspect the item properly.

"That's a Flux Bauble. Tricky peice of gear that warps the user to a random place. And anyone nearby, apparently.

"I know what a Flux Bauble does."

"Good. Great. Now port back to the armory, put it back and quit stealing stuff" Jacob suggested.

Will scoffed. "Uh, no? This thing's awesome!"

"I'm serious, just because you think someone doesn't matter, it doesn't give you the right to take their stuff"

"Make me"

This kicked off a short tussle between the two where Jacob grabbed at the bauble and Will tried to shove him away. During the struggle the boys tripped and landed in the shallow water with a splash. Almost instantly, the scenery around them changed to a large underground cavern, blue and green lights eerily reflecting off the walls. Cool and damp, the only sound was the dripping of water into unseen pools. Around them were massive stalagmites the size of apartment buildings with glowing holes, as though someone where living in them and left the lights on.

The sudden "flux" stopped their squabble and they sat there, gaping at the scene.

"Okay, this place is trippy." Will said "Can we fight later?" Jacob nodded wordlessly, drawing his scanner and sweeping it over the location, storing it's data.

"How do I work this thing?" Will ran his hands over the cage, feeling for a switch or lever. He brushed against a button that depressed easily, setting their guts churning as they "fluxed" again.

This time they actually fell, landing roughly on a stone floor with a grunt. "You're not allowed to drive anymore" Jacob got to his feet with a groan. The new location was an enormous hallway, far larger than a building had any right to be. Crafted from proportionally large bricks of tan stone, it seemed to stretch on for miles.

The stone panel beneath them sank a few inches into the floor under their weight. A rumbling followed a few seconds later, sections of the wall opening up to launch sharp metal blades into the room! Jacob threw himself back to the floor, a blade whirling just over his head, while Will darted around trying to dodge them.

"Nope! I'm done!" Will grabbed for his scanner and cried out in shock when one of the blades got too close, knocking the device from his hand and sending it skidding across the stones.

"Stay low! We can go under them!" Jacob shouted, keeping himself pressed to the floor. Will complied, nearly getting a new haircut, but managed to army-crawl over to the older boy. "This way"

They slid on their bellies over to the next section of floor tiles where the blades couldn't reach and stood, dusting themselves off. From here, they could see the blades weren't just poping out of the wall freely, but were attached to metal arms that were moving wildly around the area.

"Great, how am I supposed to get my scanner now?" Will watched the blades slashing just above his fastest way out. Jacob sighed next to him.

"_Our_ scanners." He pointed over where they originally landed, to his own scanner. He had it out when they arrived, and must've dropped it when they fell.

"Even better" Will said sarcastically then pointed at Jacob's backpack. "Got anything in that Bag of Holding we can use to grab them?"

"I should have some rope. Or we could knock them out of the way of the blades with something heavy, then find a away around?" he asked, slinging the backpack off, and searching it's contents.

"And have someone else come by and grab them? No."

Jacob bit back his comment about theft and hypocrisy and uncoiled a length of sturdy nylon rope instead. "Here you go. I also got a hammer and pitons for climbing, some carabiners, first aid kit, flashlight, spare fuel for the stove, some water, energy bars, chips, matches, a multi-tool, and a sleeping bag."

"How's any of that gonna get our scanners?"

"I don't know. You asked what I had. I planned on dividing up the supplies, Hank and Monica have the rest" They sat back down and sulked, waiting for the blades to stop. A half hour later, they were still going and the boys had grown tired of snipping at each other. Occasionally, Jacob's scanner would ring, and he knew his friends were trying to contact him.

"You called my backpack a 'Bag of Holding' earlier." Jacob said, trying to make conversation "You play a lot of tabletop games?"

"Yeah" Will eyed him warily. "So?"

Jacob shrugged. "I do too. Stuck in a dungeon, spinning blade trap blocking the path. A rogue would probably know how to disarm it" he chuckled.

"Or the barbarian would get mad and smash the thing"

"Even the alchemist could probably just..." He trailed off.

Their heads whipped around to each other, then they dived for the camping gear.

A few minutes later...

"Have you ever done this before?" Will finished wrapping the can of propane up in torn pieces of the sleeping bag.

"Once, by accident." Jacob poured a small measure of rubbing alcohol from the first aid kit on the cloth. "Dropped a can in the campfire. My dad was furious."

"But it worked?"

"Oh yeah. Fire in the hole!" The match flared, igniting the alcohol in the bundle and Jacob hurled it towards the wall where the mechanism for the blades was housed. It landed where the wall met the floor and, with a muffled thump, came to a stop beneath one of the metal arms. They immediantly ran several yards back.

A minute passed. "What's taking so long?" Will wondered aloud.

"The can needs to be hot enough to-"

Blam!

The sound of the blast made them jump, stone and dirt kicking up with the sudden burst of flame. There was a shower of sparks from the arms and blades, the explosion knocking them out of synch, causing them to hit each other. When the dust settled, the arms were wrapped around themselves, deep score marks in the floor, and the trap completely destroyed. Together, Jacob and Will picked through the wreck and collected their surprisingly undamaged scanners.

"I think that's enough excitement for me today." Will brought up the return function on his screen.

"Wait," Jacob put a hand on Will's shoulder, who shrugged it off.

"For what? Another lecture? I'm good, thanks"

"Just..." He paused to gather his thoughts. "You caused a lot of trouble for me when you broke into the arsenal. I was trying to do something nice for you, and your actions bit me in the rear end. Can you at least stop doing what you're doing in Kiru?"

Will's face fell into a frown, before vanishing in a flash of light.

"...then he ported out with the Flux Bauble. Still has that Mugic too, as far as I know." Jacob aggressively stabbed a marshmallow and held it over the fire. They had finally gotten their trip underway, minus one fuel can and sleeping bag, but that was far from Jacob's mind. "I don't get players like him, you know? They have this fantastic world to explore, and they waste time being jerks."

"You know how it is though, man" Hank said, removing his treat from the fire. "Some people are just born awful, like Klay. And others" he blew on the chunk of burnt sugar to cool it off "they don't get it until they spend some more time here. Hopefully, the kid is in the second category"

"Not everyone is one of the two though" The boys had given Monica the tent as a courtesy, and she was lying on her back, torso out of the flap to look at the stars in the clear night sky. "I bet you guys never went of of your way to do that kind of stuff."

"No" Jacob agreed, food browning in the flames. "Not even a little."

Hank swallowed his marshmallow "Nope." he said simply. "Especially in a place like this" He walked to the shore with a notebook, admiring the alien constellations in the glittering water of the Riverlands and began to sketch.


	5. Domo Arigato

Chapter 5: Domo Arigato

"Are you sure this a good idea?" Hank asked, picking through a stack of metal sheets.

"Absolutely." Monica said, digging through the wires of a discarded control panel. "Khybon doesn't care about this stuff unless he needs to recycle parts for some project"

The duo were searching though a scrapyard in the Underworld where old pieces of damaged or derelict battlegear were dumped alongside more mundane refuse. While most of it was junk, it was a well-known rumor that some pieces were good salvage with the occasional treasure found within.

"Do you even know what were looking for?"

Monica stood and wiped sweat from her brow. "All I know is, we'll know it when we find it."

The scavenger hunt went on a couple more hours, at the end of which they had acquired a statuette of an Underworlder, a tarnished ring, and, for some inexplicable reason, an Earth can opener. But nothing particularly impressive. Wiping grime from her hands, Monica was really to call it a day when a shuffling noise nearby caught her attention. Motioning for Hank to crouch down, the pair snuck forward to see who else was occupying the area.

They didn't see anyone at first, until a collection of junk moved from one pile of garbage to another. Humanoid in shape, it had a barrel-shaped body, pipe-like arms and legs ending in three sharp digits each, and a squat head set with three glowing red eyes. Hank rapidly tapped her on the arm and pointed a bit further away where another machine made it presence known. This one was a yellow sphere with long thin tendrils coming from it's body, like spindly spider legs, and the same trio of eyes set at the top of the orb.

"What are they? Robots?" Hank whispered in his companion's ear. Her breath caught in her throat, another machine entering the space. This one had arms and legs similar in design to the first, but with a wide, flat head and torso, and holding a beaten wooden staff. It seemed to show it's find to the other two, who made some mechanical humming sounds before continuing their own searches.

"I've never seen anything like these before." she said, scanner in hand. "But I've gotta get one." The scanner buzzed and sent out lines of light to copy the machine's code, drawing it's attention. The humans tensed up, but it merely stared at them for a long moment before returning to it's task.

"That was freaky." Hank relaxed and peered over her shoulder at the scan. "What kinda gear is that?"

"It's not." Monica broke into a grin. "They're creatures."

"Bull!" He pulled the scanner closer, holding onto the green-haired girl's hand. "Energy and Power aren't bad, Wisdom, Speed and Courage are terrible. No Mugicians, no Elements. But yeah, wow."

A low rumble drew them away from her scanner. The mechanical creatures had moved further away from their previous position and had started sorting through some heavily bent steel rods. One of the sections had shifted, causing the whole pile to start teetering ominously. An automaton, the one with the staff, noticed this and made a series of buzzes and whistles at the others, who made to move away from the mound.

The rumbling grew more intense, however, and the screeching of metal rubbing against metal caused Hank and Monica to cover their ears in pain as the entire mountain of metal came crashing down. They were far enough away that they didn't need to worry about being hurt, but when everything settled, only two of the robots were clear of the collapse. The third, barrel-bodied 'bot was missing, save for one arm protruding from the mass of steel beams.

"We should help" Hank took a step forward, stopping when Monica put a hand on his shoulder with an awestruck "Look". The construct with the staff has stepped forward, towards it's trapped companion. In one swift motion, it snapped the staff releasing a burst of energy that was drawn into the exposed limb. A faint whirring sound from within the collapse grew stronger and louder, until, remarkably, the rubble shifted and the automaton extracted itself in a burst of motion that left girders strewn about as though they were no heavier than planks of wood.

The two humans stood there, dumbstruck as the trio of machines went back to work picking through the scrap and garbage. "That was awesome!" Monica exclaimed, watching them go about their business. "Where do you think they came from?" Hank shrugged.

"They didn't explode, or bust out half a dozen weapons, so it wasn't Ulmar. Khybon?" he guessed.

"Maybe. I'm heading back to Chaotic to add this to my deck. Coming to my match?"

"Oh, you know it."

* * *

When she entered Battledrome Hotek later that day, it was to face off against a chubby boy with long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. He nodded in greeting and went about setting up his battle team

"Never played against this guy before." she began a mental rundown. "Jacob said his name's Perry, and he used Danians. It's only a 3v3, so as long as I play smart, I should be in good shape."

"Let's see," Monica thought to herself, tapping the dial to rifle through her cards. "I'm def gonna use the robot I picked up earlier." She moved the card to front row along with a muscular Underworlder. "If Hank was right about Khybon making them, his mechanical know-how should help me figure out how it did that boost move earlier." She lingered on a large green beetle before adding him to her back tow. "Ghuul's fast, and he can strike enemies from the back."

"For equipment..." She rotated a separate dial. "A Mech Blade for Khybon. He created it, and probably knows a few tricks. For Ghuul, a Windstrider. It'll let him move even faster and attack the back rank without having to fight through the front-line defenders first." She flipped through her collection of battlegear, for something that would complement her new robot. "A Lightning Canister, I think. It'll give it an energy boost, and do a bit of damage to another creature if it gets coded."

A quick selection of Mugic and Locations, and Monica locked her deck. A klaxon-esque alarm sounded through the drome, revealing the battleboard. Monica's opponent squinted through his squad of Danians to the strange robotic Underworlder in her front row. "Never seen that before. What's it do?"

"You'll see"

"Fancy_Lhad, you will be the attacker. Please activate the Location Randomizer."

The overweight boy nodded at this and spun the dial. It stopped on a picture of a murky bog, full of twisted, moss-covered plants and bubbling green water.

"Gloomuck Swamp. Choose your attacking and target creature."

"Ibiaan attacks Khybon" he announced, pressing on his card. The creature's code swirled around him, changing his body into a giant ant, thorax and midsection supported by four sturdy legs, the rest of the body jutting up with the head and last two arms to form a humanoid torso. He leered at Monica with glowing green eyes and snapped his mandibles. Although he was wearing some kind of leather armor over his brown exoskeleton, her eyes were drawn to the gleaming metal spear in his claws.

Monica's own transformation was swift, the code transforming her into a tall humanoid with yellow skin and a trio of eyes on his forehead. Two extra arms sprouted from Khybon's chest, each with some kind of weapon or tool attached to the end: A wide, powerful drill, a robotic clamp, and a flame-shooting cannon. Only the fourth limb was without a cybernetic attachment, ending with four clawed fingers. Clothing was sparse, little more than red boots and a loincloth, his chest covered with a metal harness that occasionally belched steam from two exhaust pipes mounted on the back.

"Let's get Chaotic" Ibiaan declared, reciting the unofficial catchphrase of the Dromes. Monica rolled her eyes and groaned at the cheesy line.

* * *

The muggy damp of the swamp was stifling, sunlight barely filtering in through the thick canopy, the few clear areas still shadowed from low clouds that clung to the region. Khybon trudged though the algae-laden goop, swatting insects that made their home in the bog in search of a bigger bug to squash.

'If I stay here any longer, all these cyborg parts are gonna rust" Monica thought from inside the burly Underworlder.

The sludge that passed for water in the swamp started to bubble. At first, she thought it was a gas pocket or something, but the wet popping sound took on a new tone. Small moans and whines seemed to form from the escaping air, the mud itself swelling in places to resemble gaunt bodies or screaming faces. A part of her brain wanted to panic at the frightening images, but Khybon's own courage made it's presence known, recognizing the attack and suppressing her flight response.

"Nice try, Bug Boy. Wanna see something _really_ scary?"

Drawing upon memories of the darker aspects of life in Perim, Khybon summoned a swirling tornado of horrible phantasm and sent it howling through the swamp with a shout of "Fearocity!". A cry of terror followed shortly after, Ibiaan attempting to charge past through the mud with what seemed like a hundred angry ghosts hot on his heels. The Mandiblor caught a foot on a root and went sprawling into the filth, where the attacking spirits enveloped him.

"Sludge Gush!" he shouted from the ground. The specters dispersed under the wave of muddy stagnant water the Danian summoned, a wave that surged towards Khybon, who immediately ran for cover behind the closest tree.

Taking a moment to catch a second wind, Monica tried to tap into Khybon's memories, looking for information on the automation they suspected he built. A few bits of information flashed by when Mugic notes played, a marching cadence that echoed eerily in the swamp. Peeking out, he could see the Danian's antennae quivering wildly, a telltale sign that he was using his Hive ability. "Must've been 'Chorus of the Hive' mugic" she thought. By using their telepathic hivemind, some Danians could receive support from the other Mandiblors, the working class of the tribe, on the board.

Taking the offensive, there was a flurry of energy blasts from the Underworlder's arm cannon, firing from behind the wooden barrier, Ibiaan returning fire in the form of a spray of needles. One of these grazed Khybon's arm and his eyelids started to droop, its powerful toxin taking hold. His vision was going blurry, so he jammed the drill head of his arm into the trunk of the tree and set the appendage spinning. With a loud crack, the tree slowly tilted, then fell forward towards the insectoid.

"It's gonna take more than a Sleep Sting to put me down!" Khybon shouted over the crashing branches

Ibiaan skittered to the side, avoiding the move with a taunting "You're right! Vine Snare!" Khybon tried to dodge the tangle of roots and plants that sprung up from the swamp and failed, the foliage wrapping around his legs and holding him in place. He quickly summoned his battlegear, a curved bronze blade with intricate carvings, to start hacking at the vines while Ibiaan made his way around the fallen tree.

Clenching his fists together, Ibiaan slammed them into the closest patch of dry-ish ground. Kyhybon felt the earth tremble beneath him and suddenly found himself airborne, free from the vines and launched upward by a pillar of rock. Carefully judging his target's speed and ascent, Ibiaan threw his spear with all his might and Khybon squeezed his eyes shut upon noticing the incoming projectile. Opening an eye cautiously, Monica sighed, seeing the familiar interior of the battledrome.

* * *

Ibiaan was doing a kind of jumping victory dance during his transformation back into his human form and chanting "I got you, I got you!"

"Yeah" she said in a clipped tone. "Sure did" What was this kids problem? He was acting like he'd never played in a drome before.

Her scanner chimed and she tapped a button to see Hank's face appear on screen.

"Tough break, but at least it's only one battle, yeah?"

"Yeah," she leaned in to whisper into the scanner "but I think it just won me the match" When he tried to ask what she meant, all Hank got in response was a wink and an ended call.

A spin of the location randomizer set the battle at the Underworld Colosseum. "Ghuul attacks Lobanne"

"You can't do that," the other player cut in "Lobanne is at the back of my line, and Ghuul's at the back of yours. He's too far away."

"Ghuul can move an extra space when I change his position" Monica informed him. "And the Windstrider he's equipped with let's him move two more."

The boy scoffed, but placed his hand on his card all the same, changing him into what looked like a bright red, obese version of his last creature. Monica's new form was simple: a human-sized green beetle, eyes glittering with both intelligence and malice.

* * *

Without the stands full of screaming and cheering spectators one would normally see in such an arena, the Colosseum was disturbingly quiet. Until, that is, Ghuul dashed towards Lobanne, trailing fire from his wings with a daring Clashjet attack.

* * *

Watching from the Port Court, Hank saw a Mugic counter vanish from Lobanne. "He's using his special ability" he hear someone nearby say. "Lobanne can make himself resistant to certain elements"

* * *

A fireproof bubble of energy formed around the insect, taking the edge off of the blazing tackle, but the damage was done. Lobanne was pushed back by the sheer force of the melee impact, using his four legs to avoid getting knocked down.

"Unsanity!" Lobanne snapped, a beam of pale blue energy shooting from his skull to strike Ghuul in the head. Ghuul staggered under the mental assault, barely shaking off the double-vision the attack caused in time to see the Danian turn and kick out with his hind legs like a horse, creating a blast of force. Scrabbling to the side put him just out of reach of the Flash Kick and he countered by conjuring a cloud of burning embers that swarmed around Lobanne, obscuring his vision.

Seizing the opening, Ghuul took flight, beating his wings to kick up a blast of wind that cut into the Mandiblor's carapace. On the downside, the wind helped clear away some of the burning sparks, allowing Lobanne to clearly see his opponent again. With a cry of "Telekinetic Bolt!" a pair of stone benches were ripped off of their mounts in the stands and hurled toward the giant beetle, who casually dove under one and around the other, remaining airborn.

"Sorry, Lobanne. I don't have any snappy one-liners. Power Pulse!" A blast of energy reduced Lobanne to code and left her opponent with a sour look on his face. He continued to glower at her while spinning the Location Randomizer, only breaking into a wide smile when the selected battleground appeared. His card showed three wide mounds connected by bridges, supporting a cavern.

"Mount Pillar" the Drome announcer declared. "Choose your target and attacking creature."

"Odu Bathax attacks...uh" he pointed at the mechanical creature still on Monica's front line. "That robot thing"

"Odu Bathax vs Khybon's Engineered Automaton at Mount Pillar. Let the battle begin"

* * *

"Ha! So Khybon _did_ make them." Hank shouted over the crowd. He had the grace to apologize to those he disturbed, before gluing his eyes to the screen where the flat-headed automaton was ambling down a dirt tunnel.

* * *

Monica had only been through Danian territory a few times in the past, so here in the tribe's backyard, she was completely lost. It didn't help matters that this body was sluggish and jerky with it movements. So when the large Danian with blue-grey chitin burst through a wall, she promptly fell over with a high-pitched mechanical "Scree!"

"Oh, man!" Odu Bathax crowed. "And here I was actually worried about that thing!" he held his stomach laughing. The Automaton let out a series of metallic chirps and whistles that, though indecipherable, seemed less than polite. This was followed by it's three eyes flashing red and releasing a volley of heavy iron spheres that clanged loudly off of Odu Bathax's exoskeleton.

"Ow! You little...' He returned fire with spheres of his own, these made of solid granite. A moment later, a gaudy yellow hat shaped like a tick or beetle appeared on his head.

"Too bad for you my Mandiblor Crown gives me extra energy, on top of what I already get for my Mandiblors. You're little tin man here can't beat me, so just forfeit"

Another round of clicks and whistles, and the Automaton held up it's arm where a golden metal jar was nestled in it's pincers. The sharp digits closed on the canister, easily crushing it, releasing a surge of lightning that arced through the creatures. Odu Bathax spasmed at the shock while the Automaton...

* * *

Monica laughed evilly inside the machine's body.

* * *

...absorbed the electricity. It's lurching movements became more fluid, it's claw-like hands snapped shut with a deafening clang. Even it's eyes; they shone bolder and steadier, craftier.

* * *

Hank whooped aloud as the Automaton's stats doubled, even trippled in some cases.

* * *

The Automation stepped forward on steadier legs and, with a single swift movement, lashed an arm out, cleanly removing the Mandiblor Crown and deactivating it.

"Hey!" Odu Bathax grabbed the headgear, trying but failing to reactivate it. "That's not fair!" he whined.

The construct tilted it's head and a deep rumble emanated from within it. Glowing red lights met beady red eyes. A set of clear synthetic tones sounded out:

"Just. Forfeit."

The rumble grew louder, shaking the walls until it culminated in a blast of sound that threw the insectoid warrior backwards. A portion of the tunnel collapsed on top of the Danian, muffling his shouts. Eventually, earth shifted and Odu Bathax was digging his way out the way only an ant could. With a bellow of "Thunder Shout!" sound waves traveled back down the tunnel in the previous direction to slam into the robot.

While leaving it's body visibly damaged, the attack didn't stop the Automaton. Drawing upon the electrical energy stored up from it's supercharge, lightning danced along it's limbs, lancing out to strike against Odu Bathax's chest, causing a blast of code that quickly reverted the earthen tunnel into the battledrome.

"No" the opposing player literally stamped his foot and snatched his scanner of the pedastal. He stomped over to Monica and started yelling at her. "This isn't fair, you must be cheating, you stupid-"

* * *

All of the monitors displaying the match in the Port Court suddenly changed to other battledromes. Hanks eyes went wide and he immediatly got up, running to Battledrome Hotek.

* * *

The spinning Chaotic logo in the middle of the room interrupted the player's stream of invectives.

"Fancy_Lhad, you have been found in violation of the Chaotic Code of Conduct. Your travel privileges to Chaotic and Perim will be suspended for one week."

What?" he yelled, outraged. "That's-" his yells were cut off, being forcibly 'ported out of the drome.

Monica stood there is silence taking in what just happened. She'd never seen player kicked from Chaotic, even temporarily.

"So, I should be more careful about what I say?" she asked awkwardly, remembering some of the stronger language she used with the Automaton's mechanical beeps and whistles.

"That would be wise."

* * *

"'Just. Forfeit'. Jeez" Hank mimicked the Automaton's voice with exaggerated robotic arm movements. "I thought he was gonna have an aneurysm"

"I'm not so sure he didn't. That was freaky, seeing him get booted like that. What was his problem?"

Hank shrugged. "Some people are way too into competition. You see it at football games, guys trash talking til they get benched, or parents starting fights"

"The only fight I was expecting was with you." She nudged the muscular boy with her elbow. "The way you came barging in, I thought you were gonna beat him down."

"To be fair, the last thing I saw before the feed switched was him coming at you."

"My hero"

They were back in the scrapyard, wandering around the piles of junk and refuse. Monica was a little shook from the experience with Fancy_Lhad screaming at her and asked Hank to take a walk with her in Perim. He wasn't sure why she chose a junkyard of all places, but was happy to help her relieve stress.

"Look who it is" she pointed at the remains of a wrecked vehicle where three familiar creatures were taking apart the craft. The Automatons turned at her declaration, decided the humans weren't a threat and went back to work. On a whim, she reached into a pocket and withdrew the tarnished ring she found earlier that day. A quick scan identified it as a Ring of Na'arin, a common Battlegear that could make it's wearer slightly stronger and smarter.

She approached the trio with a smile, holding the ring out to them. One, the barrel-bodied robot, approached and gently plucked the ring from her hand. It inspected the jewelry, slid it into a compartment in it's chest, and went back to work disassembling the vehicle.

"That was nice of you. Why though?" Hank asked.

"I like these guys. Maybe they'll need it one day, in case of an emergency."


	6. Behind Closed Doors

Chapter 6: Behind Closed Doors

Jacob sat glaring daggers at the scanner on his scuffed desk. He had just gotten back from the library, an hour and a half on the computer giving no results. Threads in the Chaotic message board, nothing. Supposed 'leaks' for new card sets, nothing. Trawling search engines for any scrap of information. Nothing. This was as much as he could do here, now it was up to another 'him' to find out what was what.

He picked impatiently at the faded blanket on his bed, eyes fixed on the screen, and waited for the scanner to beep.

* * *

"C'mon, Elliot. You're _the_ Location guy. You've gotta know _something_."

The bespectacled boy shrugged helplessly. "I can't help you, Jake. I've never seen it before. I can't speak for the Codemasters, but you're probably the only one in Chaotic who has this card." His eyes narrowed shrewdly "Now, if you wanted to sell it..."

"Goodbye, Elliot" Jacob ended the call and banged his head on the table, groaning in frustration. All around him, players were talking about their latest trip to Perim, enjoying food brought by the serving robots, or cheering on their friends in drome battles broadcast throughout the Port Court.

"Mugic for your thoughts?" a female voice asked.

"I should be so lucky." he raised his head to see an unfamiliar teen probably a few years older than himself with long brown hair pulled back into a high pony tail. She was pretty, with a midriff-baring top and capris. It took him a moment to realise he was staring.

"Oh, uh. I just, um...have a lot on my mind" he mumbled, averting his gaze so as not to seem rude.

"I can see that" the girl pulled up a seat across from him and held out a slender, manicured hand. "I'm Krissy"

"Jacob" he grabbed her hand and sat up a bit straighter. "Did you need something?"

Krissy shook her head. "I saw you sitting over here by yourself, and thought you looked upset. Thought I'd swing by and offer a friendly ear."

Jacob smiled in appreciation. "Thanks, but unless you know anything about mysterious, creepy locations that _apparently_ don't exist, I don't think you can help."

"Okay... I think I'm missing a few details here."

"Sorry" Jacob took a breath and wondered how much to give her: there was an incident with a Flux Bauble and how he wound up in a strange new location? After scanning it and porting out, he showed it to his friends, who expressed that they're never seen anything like it before? A quick match in the Beta Drome with Hank only gave him a rough idea of the layout as well as the name of the location? He settled on showing her his scanner and telling her it's name.

"The Coralsmithy, huh?" Krissy was looking at the image on his scanner. "Can't say I've heard of it."

"And that's the problem: no one has." Jacob took a drink from a bottle of water one of the servers delivered. "I'd port there to find out more, but without any clue where it is, or what Tribe controls it, I'd be going in blind."

"Maybe no one 'controls' it. It could be an old abandoned place, like those giant ruins in the Overworld, or Stone Pillar in the Underworld."

"On the flip-side of those coins, Gigantemptopolis is a filled with dangerous traps and Stone Pillar is literally haunted. Unoccupied, still dangerous." Jacob pointed out. "Although, none of that kind of stuff came up in my match..."

"Then why not go?" Krissy pressed. "You could get some new scans of gear or creatures no one's ever seen before" She met his eyes. "I'd go in a heartbeat if it were me"

"It's not just that, I don't like doing the solo adventure thing when I go somewhere new." he started hesitantly. "I try to bring backup whenever I can, in case something happens. In this case, I'd have to go there, grab another scan, then come back and give it to one of my friends so they can come with."

'Sounds like you have a plan already"

"Yeah, except all of my friends are busy." Earlier that day, Hank had taken Monica on a tour of Pouril Forest, and they weren't planning on coming back until sometime later tonight. "I could wait a other day, but this whole situation is...frustrating."

"I bet. You must be raring to do _something_"

Jacob nodded, idly spinning the water bottle's cap.

"I...no" Krissy began, but stopped herself, shaking her head.

"What?" He looked up at the girl, giving the cap another flick.

"Well, if you wanted to... I could go with you?"

The bottle cap went flying off the table, hitting another player in the back of the head ("Hey!").

Jacob was stunned. Okay, maybe she was just being nice. Maybe she just wanted to see a new location. But that didn't change the fact that a cute older girl just asked to go somewhere with him. His mouth was suddenly dry, and he took a big gulp of water.

"Yeah" his voice cracked with the word, and he cleared his throat with a nod. "Yeah. I can-yeah."

"Great. I'll wait by one of the card stations while you get that scan" Krissy shot him a wink, and walked away, back to him. Jacob turned in his chair to watch her go.

A blonde man nearby suggestively asked "Enjoying the view?" in an obnoxiously familiar accent.

"Shut up, Klay"

* * *

A short walk to the transport center later, and Jacob was taking a few bracing breaths, finger hovering over a button on the scanner. Pressing it, he dropped into a low crouch as Chaotic faded out around him, replaced with the dim damp cavern he had accidentally visited a few days previously. Instead of silence like last time, he was greeted by rhythmic metallic pounding and wet clicking sounds. Breaking into a sprint, Jacob made for one of the giant stalagmites that seemed to pass for buildings in the region and hid in a gap he found during his only match here. He had been using the form of the blue-skinned genie Deenha at the time, and this spot was much tighter to his human form than the petite Overworlder.

Peeking cautiously out, a pair of creatures appeared, speaking in a garbled, watery language. They looked like bulky human-sized mutated crabs: glistening green chitin, propped up on four sturdy legs with two arms, one ending in a oversize pincer and the other in a four fingered hand, and bristling with short, sharp spines. They reminded him of the Overworlder Crawsectus, but meaner and a few millennia devolved. Or those crab-monsters from that post-apocalypse video game he watched Hank play.

Waiting for them to be out of sight, he started scanning the area, nervous sweat dripping down his temple as the few seconds needed for the scanner to do its work passed by excruciatingly slow. Finally, it beeped to indicate it's task was finished and Jacob sighed in relief, porting back to Chaotic in a shimmer of light, oblivious to a silhouette watching from above.

* * *

Krissy was waiting patiently at a card station as promised when he arrived, playing with her scanner. Smiling at his approach she leaned forward. "Everything go okay, then?"

"Sure did."Jacob held up his scanner and locked it onto the slot in the table where the new scan of the Coralsmithy appeared on it's surface. A few taps on the screen later, and the card was displayed on Krissy's scanner.

"Fantastic. Let's say we meet up again in about half an hour or so, and head there together?" She smiled and gave him a playful wave, walking out towards the Transport Center. He nodded in reply, grinning like an idiot. Several minutes passed before he realized he was on a schedule now and ran to the Transport Center himself, queuing up a scan of Ravanaugh Ridge.

This particular scan was one he didn't use in the Battledromes. Located a few miles (or Glints, as the Perim locals would say) from Dranakis Threshold, it was a small cave he had found early on in his time in Perim, and, since their last camping trip, was being used as a kind of storage unit for gear and equipment he didn't need to bring from Earth. It allowed him to grab things like notebooks, pens, and duct tape without having to go back home first. Shoving some things into a bag, he ported back to Chaotic and awaited Krissy.

She arrived about ten minutes later. "Shall we?"

Jacob agreed, letting her know what the immediate area would like like, and they activated their scanners simultaneously, materializing in the cavernous chamber. They met up at the hiding spot where he had taken the last scan and had a whispered conversation.

"The only creatures I've seen so far are some big crab things, they can talk, I think, but I couldn't understand them. Don't know if they're hostile."

"Okay then. We stick to the edges of the buildings and shadows. Did you get a look inside any of these?" She gestured to the windows carved into the spires of rock.

Jacob shook his head. "Did a 'Grab and Go' on both scans, didn't see much during the match. Was trying to figure out the layout and hazards."

She nodded thoughtfully and motioned to a lower window. "Give me a boost"

Placing his back to the stone, Jacob laced his fingers together and Krissy placed her foot down. Lifting her up, his heart skipped a beat when her exposed navel stopped at eye level.

"Looks like a workshop" she said, peering through the window.

"Yeah?" While she wasn't heavy, he was becoming more uncomfortable by the second.

"Yeah, lots of diagrams, tools and stuff, but no battlegear or anything. Let me back down."

He frowned and slowly eased her to the floor. "If they have any, I'd bet it's higher up and guarded, too"

"Probably. I hope we can find something." She gasped, grabbed his hand and pulled. "This way"

Krissy led Jacob along the edge of the structure into a gap between it and another, where deep shadows pooled. An odd clicking noise was echoing through the space, and they could see an outline of a humanoid crustacean walking around where they had just been standing. A pair of glowing purple eyes swept over them and stopped. Jacob's heart beat against his ribs, wondering if it could see in the dark.

* * *

**[I will observe**.] a voice sounded in the creature's head, unheard by the humans. [**Return to your duties**.]

* * *

The crab thing turned and scuttled away, leaving the two humans to breath a sigh of relief. Blushing, he realized he was still holding Krissy's hand and released it with a nervous chuckle. He couldn't see her reaction in the dark, and hoped the reverse was true.

"You think it saw us?" he whispered, trying to cover his laugh as anxiety at the close call.

"I dunno" A sliver of light illuminated the girl's smiling face "But I found a door"

The door, more like a stone panel, slide open noiselessly and the pair slipped inside. Within was a wide hallway lined with more of the strange doors, each one large enough to accommodate the crab-people and labeled with strange alien script. Peeking behind one of these showed them rooms stacked with heavy stone chests filled with coral, unknown metal and pieces of thick chitin. They looked like supply or storage rooms.

A spiral staircase with wide steps and a gentle slope led up to the next level. With its wider, more open space, and low stone tables filled with odd tools, it felt like a workshop. While Krissy was playing with the tools, Jacob's eyes were drawn to a crude mannequin at the side of the room. It was in the shape of those crab creatures, but attached to it were several pieces of the spiny chitin he saw downstairs. The dummy's head was exposed, otherwise leaving it well-protected.

The sound and light of an activated scanner made Krissy's head turn. "What are you doing?" she hissed

"Scanning this sweet armor" Jacob pocketed his scanner and frowned at her scowling face. "What? There's no windows to give us away and Crabby down there didn't see where we went."

"Let's just get moving" she was holding a tool that looked like a pair of forceps and walked to a door at the back of the room and apparently used them to jimmy it open. They walked on in silence, checking rooms and corridors. All the while, a bad feeling was stirring in Jacob's gut, beyond the normal "first time in a new location" jitters.

Eventually their walk brought them to a room similar to the one Krissy described earlier: an angled desk with diagrams carved into thin sheets of metal, more stone cases of those strange shells, and racks of foreign tools.

"This place looks important" Jacob peered at what he assumed was a blueprint on the desk. It looked like nothing he'd ever seen and idly wondered if Bodal could decipher it. He frowned remembering the welcome he received if Kiru City last time, and decided to leave the sheets be.

A low grunt pulled his attention away to Krissy, who was struggling with another sliding door.

"What's in here?" he asked, casting a glance at the older girl.

She smiled sweetly, and Jacob felt his cheeks warming up. "I've got a good feeling about this one. Help me?"

Nodding, he ran his hands around the edge of the door, feeling for a latch or lock. He was rewarded with a small square that smoothly depressed and the panel opened, spilling out it contents: a sweaty and frustrated Chaotic player with pink shades and a blonde goatee.

"Took you long enough. Did you know the door was locked?" Klay grumbled. "Who wants a scan of the inside of a closet anyways?"

"I got here as quick as I could. I had to deal with this dork" she pointed to Jacob over her shoulder with thumb "leering at me every five minutes. I was gonna gag"

"Krissy? What's going on?" Jacob looked between the two, utterly confused.

"You really think I'd hang out with a loser like you if I didn't have to?" Her friendly tone was gone, replaced with an audible sneer. "Besides, I prefer Krystella"

The name rung a bell, but he couldn't place it. Hurt, Jacob sputtered out "What, why-?"

"Because you were waving that thing around like a winning lottery ticket" she responded simply. "'Never-before-seen, only the Codemasters have a copy'" she said mockingly.

"I didn't say that, Ethan did! Besides, how did he get here?" Jacob pointed at Klay.

"Just after you gave me the scan of this place, I came back to grab one for my partner here" she tilted her head to acknowledge Klay, who waved sarcastically "Some of those lobster-things spotted me though, so I ran up here to hide. I guess they locked the doors behind me after I ported out."

"And now that that's done" Klay gave Jacob a hard shove into the closet. He tried to fight back, but the older player was stronger than him, and pushed him back down. Another short scuffle had Jacob on the ground a third time and also saw Klay holding his scanner away at arms length.

"You won't be needing this" Klay laughed, tossing it across the room and giving the boy one last trip to the floor, this time slamming the sliding stone into place where it made an audible 'click', cutting off the pairs jeers.

Hot tears rolled down Jacob's face as he pounded on the door, pulling and pushing at it to get the panel to move, to no avail. He eventually collapsed on the cold stone, knees against his chest in the cramped room.

.

.

.

How could he have been such a moron?! He lashed out with a foot, connecting with something in the darkened room that cracked under his heel. Great, now there was probably broken glass in here too.

.

.

.

Going to a new location, _anywhere_, with someone he just met and didn't know? Idiot! He banged his head against the sealed door.

.

.

.

And why? A pretty face? Stupid! He searched his bag for anything useful and came up with what felt like a handful of granola bars, some dry socks, a ball of thread, and an empty water bottle with no cap.

.

.

.

Who knows how long he'd been in here. Thirty minutes? An hour? Two hours? His watch was a cheap dollar-store brand. No light up screen or glow in the dark hands. Between his futile attempts at escape and feeling sorry for himself, he lost track of time.

.

.

.

He was munching on a granola bar, recovering from the panic attack, when the latch clicked and the door slid open, causing him to fall backwards into his savior. For a wild moment, Jacob thought it was another human, until several unnatural details registered. Tall and lithe, it had reddish rubbery skin (though that may have been a trick of the light), and solid blue eyes. A quintet of tentacles sprouted from its face where a mouth and nose would be, with more, longer, tentacles taking the place of it's left arm.

It glared at him, not with shock or anger, but a cold curiosity. By human standards, it was as if he were a mildly interesting lab specimen; Who knew if this thing thought like a human. Jacob was unpleasantly reminded of a brain-eating tabletop RPG monster that lived in places exactly like this one, and reflexively scooted back.

The creature's arm tentacle lashed out at the movement, causing Jacob to flinch in surprise. Instead of an attack or physical blow, Jacob felt the appendage gently press against his forehead. Several thoughts came unbidden to the front of his consciousness, as if pulled. Images of classes in school, watching TV at home, joking around in Chaotic, transforming for drome battles, and journeys in Perim.

[**How?**]

The word echoed through his mind and he fought. He now recognized the feel of mental attacks from the Battledromes and wished for the iron willpower of Maxxor or Vidav, but a single hazy image floated up from his memories.

Maintaining contact, the thing turned its head to where Klay had thrown his scanner. His only way out lifted itself up from the floor and floated over to the creature who plucked it from the air with it's other hand and tapped on the screen. It's eyes narrowed when nothing happened and held it up for Jacob to see.

[**Show me.**]

A jolt of excitement rushed through him as Jacob reached for the scanner, following the psychic command. The creature seemed to notice this though, and held it back. Did it know he could use it to escape? If not, it certainly did _now. _

[**Stand. Follow.**]

Against his will, Jacob pulled himself up from his sitting position and fell into step behind Octo-Face, who chose to float a few inches above the stone. It led him downstairs and back outside while he struggled against the mental control, barely able to twitch his eyes or move a finger. Some of the fantasy novels he read would describe this kind of control or domination as a compulsion, a desire to do something the controller wanted, or following direction as one would for a friend. But this wasn't so gentle, more like someone was grabbing his legs and forcing them to move, step by step.

The creature stopped at a lower stalagmite, ushering Jacob inside. Within and down a flight of stairs, were several square rooms with bars instead of walls on their front. A table sat far away from these cells, along a wall where one of the crabs from earlier was standing, holding something. The creature rapidly set it down when they approached and exchanged words with his 'escort' is they strange garbled language.

[**Enter.**] the telepathic voice commanded, it's owner pointing at one of the cells.

Jacob's eyes lingered on his scanner, which was set on the table alongside two others and he was forced to walk into a cell. With a bit of surprise, and no small amount of satisfaction, he saw Klay and Krystella sitting glumly in their own cells on either side of him. The guard, he guessed it was, slammed the door shut and he felt the effects of the mind control leave with the squid-head.

He wasted no time in grabbing the bars and giving them a firm shake, wincing in pain when the rocky material bit into his skin like little needles.

"Don't bother" Klay's Aussie-accented voice drifted over from the next cell. "It's about as sturdy as a regular prison"

"You don't say?" Jacob snapped back "Been in many before?"

"Don't start" Krystella's voice came from his other side. "We need to find a way out of here"

"You're right. Have you tried flirting with the guard?"

"Cute" he could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "It wasn't anything personal."

"It wasn't-? You lied to me, beat me up and locked me in a closet! It felt pretty personal!"

"Someone would've found you. Eventually. Maybe" Klay said with a nasty grin.

"And if we left your scanner with you, you would've left and we'd be stuck here. Do you really think you could live with that?" Krystella asked with a fake pout.

"Right, because you just _knew_ you'd get caught. Let me guess: you got busted and dragged here just after you left me?" Jacob stewed on that idea for a moment. As much of a favor as it would be to the entire Chaotic player base, he would feel awful just leaving them here, even if it took him a few days to realize they were gone. His train of thought was broken by the guard storming over and banging a claw against the bars.

This quieted the trio down and gave Jacob time to think. Think about how it felt being locked up again (it was spacious to him, but probably on the smaller side for the crab-people). Think about how much he hated the two people he was sharing a jail with. Think about a way to escape.

Klay was whining about being thirsty and Jacob entertained the idea of filling up the bottle he had with some of his own 'personal' water for the teen. But that would require him to have his...Jacob's eyes widened and he made to grab for his bag. The straps were still there, comfortable on his shoulders. Tentacle guy never took it from him. What kind of prison was this, that didn't do a simple search? Or where they just expecting the humans to follow their commands without question?

The guard noticed the sudden movement and glared at him. He stared right back and made a face until the guard looked down, trying make their scanners work. Peering around the room, Jacob looked for anything that could be used as a weapon or tool, with no results. Not even a comically oversized ring of keys.

'No way to open the door. Can't break it. Gotta get Mr. Pinchy to open it'

Jacob slung the bag off his shoulders and said "Hey, over here" to Klay, making no effort to hide the act of handing over one of his food bars.

"What are you doing?" Klay asked, taking it.

"Something stupid, probably" Krystella quipped.

"If it's stupid and it works, it not stupid." was Jake's reply. He was handing one to Krystella now, finally getting the attention of the guard, who got up and approached the cell. It saw the object in his hands, and barked out something in that strange watery tongue while making a beckoning motion with its fingered hand. Jacob just shook his head and backed further into the cell.

Another series of noises, angrier, and Jacob backed up some more, until he was pressed against the back wall. He did his best to look frightened, and clutch the bag tighter. Finally, the crustacean grabbed the door and pulled with the claw while doing something near the edge of the door with it's other hand. The door opened and Jacob watched as the creature came forward, legs clicking against the stone and holding its hand out.

With a burst of motion, he dashed forward and squeezed around the guard, kicking at it's knees and scraping himself against it's rough exoskeleton, tripping just outside the barred wall. The guard was turning to face him, but with some difficulty, and he kicked out again, this time at the cell door. It closed with a clang and the guard was letting out watery shrieks, unable to open it from the inside.

"You'll help us out, right chum?" Klay begged, doing his best to look apologetic.

"Yeah, just hand us our scanners and this'll never happen again" Krystella chipped in less than sincerely, reaching through the bars.

"I wouldn't say 'chum' around a bunch of bottom feeders." Jacob's gaze fell on their scanners. "Okay, but you've gotta do something for me first"

They obviously protested his terms. They yelled, swore, kicked and cursed his name. Then he reminded them that there was a mind-controlling, possibly brain-eating octopus man outside that locked them up for a reason, and the guard, presumably yelling for help, would bring it back quicker. A few creative words about what said creature would probably do when it came back finally convinced them.

With one last hateful glare, Klay and Krystella sent over a particular Location card from their decks and ported out of the prison. Jacob toyed with the idea of scanning the imprisoned guard and decided against it. It may have been under mind control as well, a much stronger version than he was subjected to, and that didn't sit well with him. This whole place left him feeling dirty, and he knew he wouldn't come back if he could help it.

Activating the return function on his scanner, he vanished in a flash of sparkling light.

* * *

Jacob practically leaped up from his bed to grab his scanner. Smashing the blinking button at the top of the device, his anticipatory grin slid away as new memories came rushing in from his other self. He stood there blinking for a few seconds, taking in the events of the day, then shakily gathered his things and left the apartment.

His dad stopped him at the door. "You okay, kiddo? You look a little pale." he said from the lumpy couch where he was watching a baseball game on tv.

"I'm good. Left some stuff at the library earlier, just gonna run back and get 'em"

His dad was reaching for the old cordless phone next to a pile of bills. "Okay. How does Chinese sound tonight?"

"Sounds great" Jacob said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'll be back soon". He broke into a light jog as soon as the door closed behind him.

At the library, he signed in at one of the computers and went about setting up a new email. From there, he created a new Chaotic account with a screen name that was little more than gibberish; random numbers and letters. To this new screen name he sent a trio of Coralsmithy Location cards from his online deck. A few taps of the keyboard quickly brought up a box of text.

With only a moment of hesitation, Jacob clicked on a little "Yes" button under the words "Delete Account?"


	7. Don't Make An Africa Reference

Author Note:

After a bit of burnout, and more than a bit of overtime at work, I'm back on schedule!

Chapter 7: Don't Make An "Africa" Reference

Warm and dry air, with tall yellow grass, bushy brambles, and a few dozen scattered trees. He'd wandered around the Overworld's Forest of Life for over an hour and, when he finally broke through the tree line, that's what he found. Curiosity overcame the young human at the marked difference between the two terrains, like someone had drawn a line in the ground where the lush jungle simply wasn't allowed, and he retrieved a grey scanner from his front pocket. Beams of light from the gadget's back traced over the scrubby bushes and rocks, breaking down the tiniest details of the location, converting them into code and an image to display on the device's screen.

"Looks cool" Will mused, securing his scanner and taking a long drink from a canteen. "Let's check it out."

The sticky humidity of the jungle evaporated under the high sun of the savanna as he walked, leaving his simple t-shirt and jeans feeling stiff while tiny insects zipped about, forcing him to swat them away from eyes. After some time, the grasses shortened, the trees became sparser, and in the distance he could see a handful of structures. Using his scanner to zoom in like a telescope, the buildings appeared to be round huts made of clay or similar earth with roofs of woven reeds or grass. Several anthropomorphic animals were gathering around a larger gazebo-like hut just off the center of the village, possibly a marketplace or meeting hall.

Taking a few minutes to mark the area on a crude map, Will sighed. "Buncha yokels, I bet. Doubt I'll get any good scans there. Still..." He packed up his notes and continued on, at the very least in hopes of getting a scan closer to Mipedian Territory. The lizardfolk were supposed to be extremely hostile to outsiders, but ever since his first battle in Chaotic, Will had been eager to scan a creature with the power of invisibility the tribe was known for.

A cry went up from the settlement as he approached. Ducking behind a low wall of uneven stone, Will could see many younger creatures were running about in a panic, while other older ones were grabbing weapons or shouting directions. The cause of this distress was quickly made apparent when several reptilian warriors emerged from thin air to begin ransacking the buildings. Baskets of food went flying, jugs of water were thrown to the ground, livestock was cut free and chased off.

"They're not not even raiding the place, just terrorizing them" Will thought with a frown. "What's the point?"

He watched from hiding while the Mipedians continued their attack. Occasionally one of the lizards would would grab a creature and push them around or yell at them, leaving their targets shaken but unharmed. Another group was entering huts and throwing things out, like they were searching for something. One creature, a tall humanoid giraffe, stepped up to confront the invaders, lashing out with a narrow-handled club topped with a thick knob.

The Mipedian dodged easily, knocking the weapon away with a single sweep of it's strong tail. The giraffe pressed on, attempting to strike with kicks and wild punches, while Will crept into position behind the fighters to get a better angle, scanner raised and ready for use. The lizardman seemed to grow annoyed with the creature' antics, took a deep breath and released a thunderous shout from it's maw that nearly washed over the villager, who leapt to the side at the last second. The attack continued past to Will's hiding place and struck the wall which shattered under the blast of the sonic assault, throwing him backwards. He felt a sudden pain and everything went black.

* * *

When he awoke, it was under the shade of a thatched roof, laying on something coarse but otherwise comfortable, and his entire body ached. He was having trouble focusing and made to sit up, reeling when a wave of dizziness overcame him.

"Easy there, kid" a soothing voice said, easing him back down. A damp cloth was dabbed against his forehead. "You took a bad hit. You've been out of it for a couple hours."

"'ll be fine" Will slurred, reaching around while his vision cleared. "Scanner". A trip back to Earth would fix his injuries in an instant so he could get back to his scan quest.

"We put your bag of things over here" There was a rustling noise and his backpack was pressed into his hands. Blinking away the last traces of fog from his mind, Will took a look at his surroundings. If he had to guess, he was in the pavilion the creatures were meeting under earlier, a simple construct of wood supports with a grass roof. A woman ("creature" Will had to remind himself, based on her reddish-pink skin) in gleaming silver armor with white hair, elfish ears and a young face was watching him curiously.

Opening the bag, he took a quick inventory, heart dropping into his stomach when he was unable to find his scanner. The pack was then upended, contents strewn about the bed for good measure, but no luck.

"What is it?" the woman asked, eyes widening at his collection of Earthly items like candy bar wrappers and AA batteries alongside Overworld coinage and a Flux Bauble. "Is something missing?"

"My scanner. It's a, uh, device. About this big" Will held up his hands to demonstrate the rough size of the object. "Grey with buttons and a big square of glass on the front."

"I didn't see it when they brought you in" she turned to look around the room. "Is it important?"

Will started roughly shoving things back in his bag. "Yeah. I can't get home without it"

"Is everything all right?" another voice asked. Looking up, a silver-skinned minotaur with grey fur around his head and shoulders entered the room. Up close, Will could see that he had curved black tribal tattoos on his arms and legs. He was holding a walking stick, but seemed to have no trouble getting around.

The woman stood aside to let him through. "The human is missing something. A scanner, he called it."

"My name is Will" he said indignantly.

"Ah, yes, introductions. My name is Drabe." The creature gestured to himself, then the white-haired woman. "This is my student, Aivenna." She gave a polite nod.

"We came here to help the villagers, but arrived a good bit too late. You were hurt when we found you. How are you feeling?"

"Sore" Will replied, zipping his backpack up and flexing his shoulders. "Thanks for taking care of me, but I'll be fine once I find my scanner."

"We'll gladly help you," Drabe said, offering Will a hand. The boy refused and stood up on his own, sliding his bag into his shoulders.

Aivenna and Drabe followed Will outside the pavilion where the villagers were cleaning up the mess left by the Mipedians. Shards of broken pottery were being collected and deposited in baskets while families gathered their scattered belongings, returning them to their huts. He saw a few children with tan fur and hooves crying softly, comforted by an older creature that looked like their parent or older sibling.

"I saw what happened." Will took in the scene with distaste while they walked. "What were they after? Looking for something? Someone?'"

Aivenna shook her head sadly. "Nothing so clear cut. Mipedians and Overworlders have been fighting over the Broken Edge for as long as anyone can remember. This was another drop in the proverbial bucket."

"So the Mipedians were trying to drive them out?" Will scoffed. "This whole thing is a...whatchacallit, a territory dispute?"

"There's more to it than that, but that's the short version, yes" She looked over to where Drabe was talking to the giraffe Will saw fighting earlier. The long-necked creature had his arm in a sling and was looking irate while Drabe administered some kind of salve to it's injuries. "Every day it gets worse. A village drives off a band of Mipedians, the Mipedians retaliate, and the village attacks the next group to appear."

"That's dumb." Will crossed his arms over his chest.

"I agree, but the Mipedians claim its part of the Al Mipedim desert, Overworlders claim it's part of the Forest of Life. Each side views the other as intruders."

Inwardly, Will scoffed. Both tribes were wrong: He saw that for himself when he scanned the area earlier. This place was it's own location between, but separate from, the forest and desert.

"Then each side should stay out" he offered. "Mark it as a big Neutral Zone that no one gets."

This got a laugh from Aivenna. She clapped him on the shoulder and offered to introduce him to someone named Vidav sometime.

Will nodded unenthusiastically, finding and rushing to the section of wall he where was knocked out. The pair searched in silence for some time, each moment passing without finding the scanner making Will more and more anxious. Drabe joined them just as Will heaved a defeated sigh and dropped to sit on the grass.

"No luck then, I take it?" The horned creature asked, eying the two quizzically.

"No!" Will grabbed a small stone and hurled it as hard as he could toward the forest.

Aivenna and Drabe exchanged a look. "I've seen a few humans before." Drabe said "They use those devices to travel around Perim and play a game, correct?"

"Yeah," Will picked up and threw another rock. "But it's also how we get back to our own world. Kinda. It's complicated. Short version is, I literally _can't_ go home without it."

"I see. Maybe some of the villagers have seen your 'scanner'?" Drabe cast his gaze over the settlement. "It couldn't hurt to ask, at least."

"I guess so" Will brushed some of the dry grass from his pants and trudged into the village. With the pickpocket that had stolen his scanner his first day in Perim, at least he had a plan. He knew where where his scanner was and how to get it. This time..."I swear, I'm duct taping that thing to my hand next chance I get" he grumbled, approaching a resident at random.

Many of the creatures were too preoccupied at the time of the attack to help him, with only a few creatures knowing he was there at all. The village children were fairly unhelpful too; having never seen a human, or many strangers, really, they were more interested in asking questions about where he came from than answering his own. The only one who seemed to have a clue was the giraffe creature with the injured arm.

"I think I saw it."

"Really?" Will perked up instantly. "Where?"

"Mhmm. One of the Mipedians has it, I think. A brown one with a fin on his head. I saw him pick up something when they were retreating, not too far from where we found you."

"What?! Why would it even do that? I swear, does every player in Chaotic have this problem, or am I just cursed?"

"I...don't know?"

Will sighed. "No, you're fine. I'm just frustrated. I don't wanna be stuck here"

The giraffe mumbled something under his breath. "Sorry, what?" Will asked.

"I said 'Tell me about it'." He grimaced and adjusted his sling. "I don't want to be here either. I want to explore the Forest Of Life, see Kiru City, visit the Runic Grove. But these people are my family, I can't leave everyone behind."

Will nodded. "I see"

Holding out his good hand (hoof? Will wasn't sure what to call it, with it's three hard, black fingers) the creature introduced himself as "Gyrnix"

Introducing himself properly, Will asked Gyrnix about the attacks, how often the Mipedians came, and what measure they normally took to drive them back.

"We can expect two or three days between 'visits'" he said "and around eight or nine of them at a time."

"THREE DAYS? I don't want to be here for three days!"

"Try being here for thirty Solons. What would you rather do? Track invisible scouts through unknown territory?"

As a matter of fact, no, Will did not want to do that. He was told that while mundane weapons like spears, clubs, and knives were plentiful, actual Battlegear was in short supply, consisting of only a few captured pyyoblasters.

"...and each one is fully loaded, but we can't get extra ammunition."

"Weak" Will's thoughts drifted to the only other piece of battlegear in the village. "Then why don't you all just leave? It's only a matter of time before the Mipedians get tired of trying to chase you out, and settle on a more permanent method"

Silence. "You've never been in kind of position, have you?" Gyrnix asked. Will shook his head.

"More generations of my family than I can count have lived here. We're a part of this land, and we're not going to leave because someone else thinks we should. How would you feel if someone came into your home, waving weapons and demanding you leave because they want it?"

"I guess I'd want to dig in and fight back." Will admitted. "But how are you supposed to go off on a grand adventure if you're here fighting off Mipedians?"

"Exactly"

An awkward quiet followed this, broken by a low horn that sounded throughout the village. Will jumped at the sound, expecting another attack.

Gyrnix chuckled "No worries. It's just dinner. Completely nonlethal, unless my sister is cooking."

Evening meals in the village were apparently a community affair, held at a collection of tables, benches, and stools in an open area just past the building Will woke up in. Pieces of unknown meat were being turned on a spit above a metal mesh upon which sat a wide variety of grilled vegetables, while a large pot of stew hung over another fire, bubbling merrily. A few creatures were singing songs and telling jokes around the fire as the sun sank into the horizon. The entire scene reminded Will of a summer camp.

Drabe approached him while he was trying a piece of the odd meat. It wasn't bad, with a flavor similar to venison, but with a tangy aftertaste.

"How are you?" The Overworlder asked. "I imagine it's been difficult"

"Not gonna lie, I've been better" Will set his bowl down, hands reflexively reaching for a scanner that wasn't there.

"I'll admit, you seem to be taking it well. The few other humans I've met would be a sobbing mess by now."

"I think I've just convinced myself by now that it'll work out. If Gyrnix is right and a Mipedian has my scanner, he'll show up at the next raid. I get it back then." the human stated confidently.

"No offense, Will, but can you fight? I can't imagine they'll give your scanner back if asked politely" Drabe's tone was light, but there was an undertone of serious there.

"I know a little bit. My family..." Will stopped himself. They didn't need to know about his personal life. "...they taught me how. But hey, I didn't see you or your student during the fight. Where'd you come from?"

Drabe nibbled on what looked like a carrot or thin turnip before answering. "My role in the Overworld is as a Caretaker. There are several of us that make it our duty to watch over the wilds of Perim. My specific purview is over the Forest of Life, protecting it from those that would do harm."

"Like a ranger or druid" Will guessed. "When something like these attacks happen, you get called in?"

Drabe frowned a bit "I don't know what a ranger or druid is, but yes, basically. As Overworlders, we have a duty to protect each other, and when we heard about these events, we came immediately"

"Judging from Aivenna's armor, she can fight, but what about everyone else? They didn't look to eager to take up arms, except Gyrnix. Do they just hide until it's all over?

Drabe looked thoughtful. "You have an idea?"

"I've got a Flux Bauble in my bag" Will told him, pulling out the battlegear. "We could get everyone together, and flux them somewhere else"

"We could" Drabe agreed. "But fluxing is random. We could wind up in a Danian nesting ground, an Underworld prison, or somewhere outside the known borders of the Overworld." He inspected the sphere carefully. "Many of these have cool-down times. Have you ever noticed such a feature with this?"

Will nodded. "About thirty seconds"

"A lot can happen in thirty seconds. Fluxing away may protect them from the Mipedians, but it may also move them from the frying pan to the fire. Are you willing to take the risk? Put that many lives in your own hands?"

He thought about that for a minute. If he fluxed out with all the villagers, they would potentially be safer than here, but then he'd have to flux around at random until he got close to this location again in order to get his scanner back. If he handed it off to one of the villagers and stayed, he'd lose a useful piece of battlegear. But if they stayed, one of them could get hurt in the fight that was sure to happen. Would they even leave if offered?

With that thought, Will stood up and walked away, mumbling to Drabe about not feeling well. He'd never eaten food from Perim, and told a few creatures here so. Hopefully, they'd think the meat disagreed with him and not ask questions. Finding his way back to the cot he woke up in, he sat down and tried not to panic.

One day. He'd been here less than one day, and was starting to lose it. Talking to them like they were regular people or something. He didn't care about their backstories or day-to-day activities, he cared about getting his scanner and leaving.

Stretching out on the makeshift bed, Will tried to focus. Drabe said he'd met humans before. Maybe he had a way to get a hold of some other Overworlder that had human friends, like Jacob. They could port here and take a message to send to his Earth-self, let himself know the situation. Letting that idea comfort him, the stress of the day caught up with the boy, and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Strange dreams haunted him that night: Lost in an endless expanse of sand, running towards something just to be pulled back by an invisible force. Transforming into a strange hyena-like creature, but not like in the Battledromes; it was more akin to a werewolf movie, his limbs twisting and stretching into a new form. When the light of the rising sun forced his eyes open, he felt more tired than before.

Rubbing his eyes, Will stepped out of the pavilion to see Aivenna and Drabe were talking to Gyrnix. Many of the villagers were going about their business, weaving baskets, or mending clothes. They all looked like females or children, with none of the men he saw last night in sight. Curious, he approached the three most familiar creatures.

Exchanging greetings with them, Will asked where everyone else was.

"Out hunting" Gyrnix replied. They should be back in a few hours. In the meantime, we would ask for your help"

"Mine?" Will was suspicious. "With what?"

"I know a little of the game you humans play, 'Chaotic'." Drabe said. "You battle by turning into us, using the powers and abilities of various creatures."

"Yeah..."

"We want you to fight alongside us" Aivenna cut in. "You've won many battles in this game, yes'?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Will put his hands up and took a step back. "Chaotic isn't quite like that. We borrow memories and instincts and stuff, too. And it's not permanent. It's not like I have all those combat reflexes in my head and ready to use or anything. I can't even use attacks like you guys do."

"That may be," Gyrnix said "but too many of the villagers here are tired of fighting. Of them, only me and a few others are even willing to do so anymore. We need all the help we can get." He looked at the human pleadingly.

Aivenna spoke up again. "We have weapons here you can use. I can train you, if that's what you're worried about."

"We won't force you" Drabe placed a hand on Will shoulder "we will return your scanner should we find it. We simply offer you the chance to reclaim it yourself"

He stood there silently for a good bit, meeting each creature's eyes before letting out a sigh.

"Lets get to work"

* * *

"I've always wanted to try one of these outside the dromes." Will hefted the weapon experimentally, straining a bit under the weight. Aivenna had given him a pryoblaster and was now marking a tree stump close to the forest tree line with a crude face. On her signal, he gave the trigger a hard pull, a gout of flame erupting from the triple barrels with the recoil knocking him back on his behind. A few dozen yards away, the makeshift target exploded.

"Okay, that was awesome."

"A very nice shot" Aivenna agreed. "You have experience with these kinds of weapons?"

"My dad taught me how to shoot, yeah"

"He must be a great warrior"

"Something like that." He may be warming up to the residents, but Will wasn't quite ready to start telling them his life story. The entire day was spent with the female Overworlder, learning how to dodge with the heavy weapon, shoot on the run, and how to manipulate the various settings. Some of these were new to him, such as when she showed him how to adjust the output to generate a thick cloud of noxious smoke.

After a quick meal consisting of roasted vegetables, Drabe took a turn tutoring Will that night. Instead of combat training, the minotaur taught him strategy, like watching the ground for depressions from invisble foe's footprints.

Gyrnix was helpful, even with an injured arm, relaying stories of previous attacks and approaches of the Mipedians. This went on for two more days, weapon and maneuvering drills during the day, and tactics at night. Each night as Will drifted off to sleep, physically and mentally exhausted, he wondered if the next day would bring the lizardfolk back. The dawn of the third day saw this train of though come screeching to a halt.

His morning training session with Aivenna was cut short by a small humanoid goat he recognized as a villager running up to them with fear in it's eyes. Exchanging a look, Aivenna and Will broke into a sprint back towards the settlement. The pyrobaster was still quite heavy to him, and Aivanna was much faster, so Will arrived after she did, barely able to make out the form of six or seven Mipedians blinking in and out of view as they terrorized the populace.

Bracing himself against the kick of the rifle, Will squeezed off a shot. A ball of flame shot from the end of the weapon, nearly striking one of the lizards who vanished at the last instant. Aivenna was currently engaged with a dusty yellow-scaled Mipedian while Drabe was grappling with a brown reptilian with a tall cranial crest. Will's vision practically zoomed in on this and he could hear Gyrnix's voice. Brown Mipedian with a fin on his head.

Swinging the weapon around, he fired off another blast, this one nearly hitting Drabe, but breaking the struggle between the two. Drabe took the opportunity to reach into his vest and hold up a ring of white crystal.

"Song of Truesight!"

Triumphant notes filled the air, an eerie white spirit leaving Drabe's body to fill the crystal. A shimmering veil of light washed over the crested Mipedian who's form flickered and solidified. Many of the Mipedians, Will noticed, dove for cover as the notes played, fearful of being the target of the invisibility-cancelling spell. The crested lizard shifted his beady gaze between Drabe and Will, before deciding a strategic retreat was in order.

"No you don't!" Will shouting, leveling the pyroblaster at the running Mipedian. The mugic seemed to have broken the invaders nerve, sending the rest of them running before they could be effected next. Before he could shoot, a length of cord went whirling past him to wrap around the fleeing Mipedian's legs, sending it sprawling face-first to the ground. Aivenna pounced on the downed Mipedian, holding him fast while he glared in fury at the vanishing backs of his fellows.

Looking around for the source of the attack that downed their prisoner, Will saw Gyrnix was standing nearby, toying with a pair of bolas with his good arm, almost identical to the set wrapped around the lizards legs. "Good throw!" he called out, setting down the pyroblaster. Gyrnix smiled in return and set about informing the villagers of the Mipedian's withdrawl.

Aivenna was using a length of rope supplied by Drabe to tie up the Mipedian properly when Will stomped over, dropping to his knees and roughly searching through belt pouches and bags until his hands wrapped around smooth, familiar metal. With a loud "Ha!" of triumph, he pulled his scanner from the lizard's belongings and gave it a few experimental taps. The screen blinked to life and he clutched it to his chest.

"For the record" Will looked the Mipedian in the eye and held up his scanner "If you had left this alone, you wouldn't be in this position." With the rope tied firmly around his snout, the Mipedian couldn't do much more than give the human a hard stare and struggle against his bonds with a snarl. "What'll you do with him?" he asked the Overworlders.

"We have several prisons in our lands." Aivenna said. "They'll be more than sufficient to hold him until we come up with a more...permanent solution." The Mipedian seemed to pale at this, eyes widening in fear.

Drabe hushed his student. "More than likely, he will be sent back to Mipidem Oasis after enjoying some Overworld hospitality. I hear the Royal House has a special punishment for Mipedians that are captured in enemy lands." If the reptilian looked white before, he appeared outright terrified now.

While Aivenna and Drabe figured out the logistics of prisoner transport, Will headed back o er to Gyrnix.

"You have your scanner back" the creature noted.

"Sure do. Ready to get out of here. How 'bout you?"

"Me?" his long neck tilted curiously.

"Yeah" Will reached into his back and withdrew his Flux Bauble. "Pack a bag, and I can give you a lift. Somewhere nice, not too dangerous?".

"You would do that for me? To be honest, I got the impression you didn't much care for us"

Will shrugged. "Thanks to you guys, I got my scanner back. That means a lot to me."

Gyrnix's gazed upon on the battlegear with longing in his eyes.

I can't leave" Gyrnix said sadly, "One threat to our village may be gone, but there will be more, and, well, you've seen the others; they still refuse to fight back."

"This place won't last long if that keeps up"

"I know... if I could ask a small favor?"

"Sure"

"Drabe told me a bit of how your game works. Could you scan me? That way, when you play your game, I can still travel Perim in spirit, at least"

Will nodded, activating his scanner to send lines of light tracing over Gyrnix's form. The giraffe-man smiled and bid Will farewell, followed by Drabe and Aivenna. Gripping the scanner tightly, as though someone might try to take it again, he pressed the button that would return him to Earth.


	8. Hello Drakness My Old Friend

Chapter 8: Hello Drakness My Old Friend

Author Notes: Special thanks to user, Nitro zeus for the chapter idea!

"...and then I came flying in with this huge drop kick, it was epic!"

"Mhmm"

""That coded him obviously, so now I'm up to six wins in the Amzen Drome. One more, and I get to face Codemaster Amzen herself"

"Cool"

Jacob gave Hank a worried look. "Are you still mad?" he asked his friend.

"Am I still mad that you went to a super-rare, brand new location, saw creatures no one else has, scanned unknown battlegear, then deleted said location, all without telling me you were going, resulting in you going with Krystella of all people, getting mind-controlled then arrested?" Hank took a loud slurp from his cup. "Nope."

"Okay. one: I didn't know it was Krystella. I'd never seen her before, only heard about her. Two: I was frustrated, no one else knew anything and I was tired of sitting on my hands waiting for news." Jacob explained for what felt like the hundredth time. "I was being impatient, and I'm sorry. Besides," he gave his Hank a knowing glance "I would've hated to have interrupted your date"

Hank face turned a light shade of red and he coughed into his drink. Recovering, he said "It was a tour, not a date. And don't change the subject".

"I'm not," Jacob said, taking care with his words. "If our roles were reversed, I was out with someone else, and you REALLY couldn't wait to check out a new location, would you have gone without me?"

Hank sighed, knowing it was true, he would have. "Not with some strange girl I'd never met"

"Lesson learned" Jacob conceded. "Where is Monica, by the way?"

"She had a family thing to go to. She's a bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding."

"Oh, that's nice. Do you think she'll-" Jacob was interrupted by the chiming of his scanner. Tapping a button, an unfamiliar face appeared on the screen. It was a boy around his age with black hair and a red shirt under a suede jacket. "Uh, hi?" Jacob said, Hank looking over curiously.

"AirRazor, right? I'm Ron. Nice job in Amzen earlier"

"Oh! Thanks, man. I appreciate it."

"I just got my sixth win in the Amzen Drome earlier today," Ron said through the scanner "how about you?"

"Yeah, it was six for me too" Jacob glanced over at Hank, as if you ask 'You know this guy?'. Hank shrugged.

"Really? Great! I thought it'd be cool to find another player with six wins and have a match, make it interesting, you know?" Ron put on a dramatic Sports Announcer voice. "Winner Gets a Codemaster Match'. You're the first player I've called today to have six wins. So, what do you think? Interested?"

"Yeah, actually," Jacob perked up at the idea. "That sounds great!"

"Awesome!. I'll send the challenge right now, and meet you the drome in, what, an hour?"

Exchanging farewells, they ended the call, Jacob's scanner beeping a moment later with a challenge match request for a six on six match. Accepting the request, he and Hank walked over to one of the card stations to brainstorm his deck strategy.

"Gonna mix it up, or go solid this time?" Hank asked.

"Full Overworld minus one, I think." Jacob scrolled through a lit of his cards. "I don't have any really powerful hitters like Maxxor or Heptadd, but Xaerv, Tangath Toborn, and Bladez should make a solid front line." He brought up scans of said creatures and placed them on a mock battleboard.

He moved his next selections in place. "Gespedan and Lomma in the middle row for support, and just for you" he gave Hank an exaggerated wink, getting a punch on the arm for it, "Mommark in the back for Mugic"

"Hey, I can't help it; I like Mipedians, but there's something about Mommark that makes me super comfortable in his form." Hank said somewhat defensively.

"Not knocking it. Bladez is my favorite creature, even though he's not an Overworlder." Jacob started cycling through battlegear next. "Bladez and Xaerv are getting Torweggs to boost their air attacks"

"Yeah, yeah, you and your air attacks" Hank joked. "What about that armor you picked up in the Coralsmithy?"

Jacob shook his head. "I don't know what it does yet. Haven't had a chance to run it though the Beta Drome and test it or anything. Help me with that after this match?" Hank agreed and they went back to the task at hand.

"Tangath Toborn is gonna be packing a Cyclance to give him _air attacks" _he shot Hank a look, daring him to comment "while Lomma gets a Riverland Star for healing and Gespedan will use a Scout's Monocular. Mommark..." Jacob paused. "I dunno, man. What works with him?"

Hank looked thoughtful. "A Mugician's Lyre is always good, or something to boost his stats. Mommark is smart, but not great in a straight fight. Ooh!" Hank got out his scanner and tapped a few buttons. A card appeared on Jacob's scanner, a battlegear that looked like a statue with sinister energy emanating from it. "Picked this up on my last trip to Khybon's Scrapyard. I've got a few scans of it, so you can have that one."

"What's it do?"

"Drains the opponent's stats when you deal damage. It's gotta be a hard hit, and it only works on one stat at a time, but it works."

"Good find" Jacob placed the statue under Mommark "Get some good hits in, lower their stats to get stronger hits to lower the stats more. I like it."

His spell selection was fairly basic, full of healing and defensive Mugic to keep his creatures in the fight, while Locations were equally straightforward; Overworld areas to increase the power of certain attacks or ones that were familiar enough to gain a terrain advantage.

A little under an hour later, Jacob was recreating the same setup in Battledrome Amzen. Ron was cordial, eagerly greeting Jacob when he arrived. With his black cargo pants, boots and fireball-adorned shirt, Jacob jokingly complimented his fashion sense, the outfit similar to his customary black tee and tan cargos, though Ron was wearing a nice suede jacket with a fur collar.

The drome announcer requested the two lock their decks in it's droning monotone voice. Doing so, Jacob saw Ron's team was entirely made up of Underworlders, with Magmon, Ragetrod and Tharax at the front, with Skreeth, Kraade, and Drakness filling in the back. Jacob involuntarily shuddered at the pair of crablike Underworlders, reminded of the similar creatures in the Coralsmithy.

"AirRazor, since you have been challenged by Redfury, you will be the attacker. Please spin the Location Randomizer."

Giving the dial a firm swipe, locations cards whipped past, finally slowing and settling on a curved canyon filled with swirling winds.

"The Storm Tunnel. Choose your attacking and target creature"

"Xaerv attacks Magmon" Jacob declared, he and Ron pressing their hands against their cards. Immediately, swirling blue vapors of letters and numbers enveloped his body from the ground up, Ron transforming into a bulky lava monster, Jacob changing into a pale blue humanoid with long white hair, loose pants, and wild eyes.

"Looks like you're-"

* * *

"Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it" Hank was praying.

* * *

"-about to get Xaerved"

* * *

"I hate you" Hank banged his head against the table. Around him, other players were groaning at the pun.

* * *

The Storm Tunnel lives up to its name, air whipping through the canyon, eroding the rock into a smooth tunnel. Constant howling winds and dust from the perpetual storm can disorient visitors. Xaerv is one of the few creatures to live there, and many Overworlders think it's the reason for his...unique mindset. For Jacob, it was a rush.

"What's the matter, Magmon? Looks like you're a little 'under the weather'" Xaerv laughed uproariously at his joke, his jetpack-like Torwegg pushing against the storm while he watched Magmon's heavy body trudge along the bottom of the tunnel, resisting the powerful gusts.

"Funny, coming from someone flying blind. Smoke Surge!" Opening his wide mouth, Magmom expelled a massive cloud that blanketed the area with thick, black smoke. Xaerv started coughing furiously, unable to see. The smoke cleared quickly, blown away by forceful breeze, leaving Xaerv open to a blistering spear of molten rock hurled by Magmon.

"Whoa!" Killing the throttle of his Torwegg, Xaerv let the natural course of the tunnel pull him away from the attack before countering with one of his own, a sizzling bolt of lightning that collided painfully with Magmon.

"Shocking eh? It's almost like-"

"No more puns!" Magmon bellowed, unleashing a furious salvo of fireballs, striking Xaerv with enough force to short out his battlegear. Spiraling out of control, Xaerv awkwardly reached behind him and banged a fist against the casing of his Torwegg until it reactivated with a sputtering cough. By that time, he had flown quite a ways down the tunnel and Magmon was a glowing speck in the distance. A speck that was growing larger?

"Uh, oh" Xaerv pulled a rough about-face and took off, flying from a swarm of burning embers that was quickly filling the canyon. Below, Magmon was traversing the tunnel in long leaps, using the winds to push him along while his heavy mass kept him from blowing away. Another Ember Swarm was blocked by a storm of freezing hailstones propelled through the Storm Tunnel with Xaerv's powerful areokinesis. The cloud of steam the colliding elements created dissipated quickly, leaving Magmon looking for his opponent.

The winds increased in strength; Xaerv was behind him now, arms outstretched and increasing the force of the storm. They pushed against Magmon, hard, and try as he might, the Overworlder's power of air proved too much, picking him up and sending him hurdling down the tunnel and into a wall where the canyon walls curved, smashing him into code.

"Well played." Ron said in the drome as Xaerv changed back into Jacob. "Bad location for me, I guess"

"It happens. To be fair, I've never seen a non-flyer put up such a good fight there"

Ron activated his Randomizer at the prompt of the Drome announcer, the location displaying a mutli-leveled cavern of ramps and barred cells.

"Ragetrod vs Tangath Toborn at The Pits" Ron decided, a tap of his card morphing him into a tall, brown-furred creature with four arms and two bestial heads. In two hands were large spiked flails, while the other two were holding sturdy shields. Jacob was wearing the form of a humanoid lion in armor with a large sword.

Tangath Toborn leapt from ledge to ledge, attempting to gain higher ground in the Underworld prison. If Jacob remembered correctly, Ragetrod was a guard here and would know the place inside and out. He'd also heard some stories about the inmates, how some were so far gone, mistreated and abused by the Underworlders, that they became something other than the creatures they once were, more akin to hostile environmental hazards that could be picked up on a Chaotic players scan. With this in mind, he made a point not to get to close to the cells.

Ragetrod found him first, one of his flails replaced with a gleaming steel battleaxe that set Tangath's fur on end. While the Underworlder looked intimidating of the best of days, the overall effect of the environment and his weapons left the normally brave Overworlder downright terrified. This wasn't helped at at when Ragetrod released a red specter from his body into a Mugic crystal with a shout of "Song of Fury!"

Coarse and menacing notes pounded through the air, reducing Tangath's energy. The same song caused Ragetrod to seemingly swell with power, and he lunged at the leonid warrior.

"Don't be such a scaredy-cat, Tangath!" Ragetod roared with glee, swinging the sharp metal blade. Tangath ducked under the weapon and leapt backwards away from it's follow-up attack.

"What happened to 'No more puns'?" he asked, drawing his sword with one clawed hand, his Cyclance with the other.

"What can I say? It's a lot less irritating on the giving end. Ash Torrent!" With a single mighty exhale from each mouth, Ragetrod expelled a blast of blistering, burning ash. Tangath tried to blow the cinders away with the Cyclance, to no avail. Between the Mugic, Ragetrod's strength, and his mastery of the attacks individual elements, Tangath Toborn quickly found himself reduced to a shower of code in a single attack.

"A One-Hit KO? Really?" Jacob was scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Can't say I've seen too many of those before."

Ron chuckled. "Yeah, Ragetrod's a beast" he paused. "Th-that pun was an accident."

Jacob laughed along, giving the Randomizer a quick spin. A massive stone temple with equally large stone faces carved into it's front would be the battlefield for Xaerv vs Skreeth, a purple-skinned humanoid with a skeletal tail instead of legs. The former inhabitants of Gigantempopolis had vanished mysteriously, leaving many treasures behind for those brave enough to travel the halls and rooms meant for creatures hundreds of times their own size. But like any good dungeon, it also had it's fair share of traps and defenses to guard the valuables within.

"Seriously? AGAIN?" Xaerv was dodging and flying around a series of saw blades on mechanical arms that had come from a hidden panel in the wall. Zipping through the spinning hazards was a lot easier with a Torwegg and enhanced reflexes, but that did nothing to alleviate the irritation at being caught in the same trap twice. Skreeth was nearby, having just been caught on the edge of the trap and darting out of harm's way. He quickly started summoning wailing spirits to attack Xaerv, the phantoms easily sailing around and through the blades to find their target.

"For the love of-!" Xaerv shouted in exasperation. "Symphony of Shielding!" A pair of mugic vanished from Mommark; Rich, melodic tones filled the halls, creating a semi-transparent bubble around Xaerv. The angry spirits crashed against it's surface, unable to penetrate the shell, while the serrated edges of the trap skidded off it, allowing the Overworlder to fly out of range of both.

The protective mugic fizzled out shortly after, leaving Skreeth and Xaerv on either side of the flailing razors. Until, with a cry of "Rustoxic", Skreeth opened his mouth, spewing out a haze of red particles that instantly corroded the trap in a way that a thousands Solons of passing time couldn't. The mechanism controlling the blades ground to a halt with a high-pitched screech and collapsed.

"Seriously?" Xaerv asked. "You couldn't have done that earlier?"

"It wouldn't have been as funny earlier." Skreeth shrugged, pushing his way past the broken arms.

"Paral-eyes!" Thin beams of light shot from Xaerv's eyes, striking Skreeth and freezing him in place as his joints locked up. His eyes darted around, panicky in their sockets.

"Lightning Burst!" A shower of electrical books struck the rusted metal and followed the path of least resistance, traveling down the framework and shocking Skreeth who still had his hands placed on the arms to move them aside. A grunt of pain escaped from Skreeth's clenched teeth and an explosion of electricity and code sprayed outward.

"That," Jacob said, changing back to human "was funny"

"For you" Ron grumbled, albeit with a grin. "Ragetrod is moving back a square to block in Xaerv. I've got him surrounded, now." He placed his hand on the card, and moved his creature back onto his side of the field, sealing off Xaerv from the others. "And now..." He swiped the Location Randomizer, clenching a fist in victory when a tower made of scrap metal and haphazardly welded junk appeared.

"Drakness attacks Xaerv. Battlegear doesn't work at Iron Pillar, so no more Torwegg."

"That goes for you too, you know" Jacob said, placing his hand against Xaerv's card.

Ron had vanished from the drome with his transformation, a creepy raspy voice the only indication of the boy presence.

"You assume I need it"

* * *

Even without his Torwegg, it was a farly simple matter for Xaerv to get around, summoning gusts of wind to propell him upwards. Occasionally, a bit of metal or scaffolding would creak or bend under his weight, but he would be gone before it could collapse. Ron watched through Drakness's eyes from the cavern's ceiling, far from any supports or beams; after the last match, the crafty Underworld player wouldn't be anywhere near a huge steel conductor if he could help it. A sneak attack would be best, damage Xaerv without giving away his location. Concentrating on the desired effect, he felt a mugic vanish from Kraade.

Harsh, deep notes echoed through the cave, a column of blinding light announcing the casting of a Cannon of Casualty mugic. Xaerv tried to dodge, but the beam caught him in midair, sending him tumbling to a platform below. Looking around wildly, the Overworlder made what would have otherwise been a winning move: channeling a massive amount of electricity into the tower, most likely hoping to fry anyone else nearby. Too bad Drakness hadn't moved from his perch, biding his time and waiting for the perfect time to strike.

The bright light of the attack faded, Drakness still safe in his pool of shadow. Xaerv was stooped over, hands on his knees, head still turning every which way.

He stood. Perfect. Drakness reached out with an appendage of pure blackness and fired off an orb of pure night. Xaerv never knew what hit him as the bolt hit him in the back of the head.

* * *

Jacob was wiped from the attack, breathing heavily and on the lookout for Drakness, when he felt something hit him. The next instant, he was back in the Amzen Drome, thoroughly confused.

"Wait, I was- and then I-" he pointed in a few directions, trying to figure what happened. "Where were you?" he asked Ron, equal parts lost and impressed.

"Trade secret" Ron said with a wink. "Your move."

The Randomizer chose Kiru City for Jacob's next battleground. "Bladez attacks Tharax" he announced warily.

* * *

Kiru City. Comfortable. Safe. Maybe not for Underworlders in general, but Jacob knew it as well as his own hometown. His last two losses may have been single-attack KO's but not this time. "I'm on to you now" he thought. "Weaken with mugic, then hit hard"

Bladez tightened his grip on curved blade, waiting for the telltale sound of a mugic that never came. "Maybe he's out of mugicians?" Ears strained against the eerie quiet of the normally bustling city, he heard it. Not mugic, but a scuttling, tapping sound. The warrior's blue skin paled just a shade. A reflection of a spiked shell in a window made him do a double-take as large crab with a scowling face and four pincer-ended arms scuttled into view.

"Whirlwind Scythes!" Bladez yelled in a panic, swinging his blade with enough force to create shockwaves that went careening off into the town, shattering windows and stone alike. Tharax looked taken aback by the wild shot, recovering quickly and countering with a blast of disgusting slime fired from one of his claws. Bladez tried to activate his Torwegg to fly away and gain the high ground, but it made a wet sputtering sound, refusing to lift off.

Taking an alternative approach, Bladez jumped into the air and landed on Tharax's back, gripping the edge of his shell awkwardly with his shield-hand.

"Ah! What're you doing?" the crab shouted, thrashing about about to remove his new rider.

"Safest place around, far as I can tell" Bladez held right while Tharax' claws snapped upward, unable to reach.

"Shows what you know. Rain Spears!"

"Rain-what-now?"

With a crack of thunder, the sky opened up over the battlers, sending down a hail of long liquid shafts. One of these struck Bladez hard in the back with the force of a fire hose, knocking him loose from his makeshift mount. Several more crashed to the ground, soaking the area and Tharax had to scramble away to avoid being struck by his own attack.

Eyeing the new sodden terrain, Tharax fixed a beady in on Bladez. "Don't do it" he warned.

"Don't do what? he asked wickedly, letting arcs of electricity dance over his sword before snuffing them with a laugh. "Just kidding. No fun in the same strategy over and over."

'That and the fact that I'm soaked too', Jacob thought. 'And I can't fly because he scummed up my Torwegg'

The rest of the battle was a fairly brutal affair, the two trading heavy physical blows back and forth. Despite his hard exoskeleton, Badez was far more maneuverable than the slow Underworlder and came out victorious. From there, it was a total beatdown. Bladez easily swept though Ragetrodd when the beastman attacked him at Fear Valley. Terrifying visions beset them both and Ragetrod went into a fuy, attacking both enemy and location with abandon.

Bladez attacking Kraade at the Overworld's Forest of Life didn't go much better for Ron. Before Jacob's attack, he moved all of his creatures forward to keep the pressure on. Within the Forest, Bladez was able to draw on the natural energy within to make himself more resilient amd came out the winner, despite the crustacean using a Discord of Disarming to completely destroy his Torwegg.

"I hope you enjoyed you little winning streak" Ron was saying in the Battledrome. "Because it's about to end."

"Not to sound rude, but it's four on one" Jacob pointed out. "All you have left is Drakness, and no mugicians."

"You know what they say about saving the best for last."

"Redfury, it is your move" the drome reminded the players.

Ron nodded at this, spinning the Location Randomizer. The result was a series of heavy steel platform situation atop and over a giant pool of lava.

"Kyhbon's Forge"

"Alright" Ron said with visible glee. All four of Jacob's remaining creatures were in striking distance. "Eenee, meenee, mynee... Drakness attacks Gespedan."

* * *

A blue blur streaked through the workshop, leaving trails of dust and metal shaving kicked in its wake. Gespedan was one of, if not the fastest Overworlder around and he could search the entirety of Kiru City for someone in just about an hour. And after several solid once-overs of the Forge, the gazelle-like human was coming up with nothing. No other creatures, and certainly no Drakness.

Gespedan summoned his battlegear and peered through it. The Scout's Monocular was similar to a pair of high-tech field glasses, able to pick up the smallest movement over long distances and even they weren't getting any readings. A sudden sharp pain caused the Overworlder to spin around, grabbing at a wound on his calf. Just like with Xaerv, there was no visible source for the attack.

"Really? Sniping like a coward?" Gespedan shouted out. Drakness didn't rise to the bait, however, instead staying wherever he was. "Great..."

Ron was right about his winning streak. Gespedan went down when a pipe "mysteriously" burst, coating the ground in slippery lubricant that sent the speedster sliding off a platform, over a railing, and into the lava below. Lomma tried to avenge him at the Runic Grove, only to fall deaf when several of the rune-carved trees started _screaming_, overwhelming the antelope-woman's sensitive ears. She didn't see the finishing blow either.

A colossal pillar of stone help up the cavern where Bladez was defeated, battered with a Cannon of Casualty powered by the angry spirit residing within the location. Blasts of flame, bolts of lightning, even a brief manifestation of Baldez' own skeleton to frighten the shadow couldn't draw Drakness out of hiding.

* * *

"Not even kidding, dude: how are you doing that?" Jake was stunned, the matched having turned from a nearly clean sweep to a one-on-one match. "I've never seen a player use Drakness like you do, it's so broken!" Despite his tone, Jacob was thrilled by the course the battle had taken.

"It just comes naturally, I guess" Ron said with a shrug.

Jacob nodded in understanding and activated the Randomizer one last time. The multi-story blue and white Overworld Library would be the location of their final match.

* * *

"I've heard of 'Silence in the Library', but this is ridiculous" Mommark made no effort to keep his voice down, finding the eerie quiet too much for him as he walked amongst the stacks. He stuck out like a sore thumb, lime green skin, bright red hair, wearing a purple suit and lab coat; it was no surprise when the shadows in the dimly lit rows started to pool around him, extinguishing the lamps one by one.

"Okay, that's bad." Mommark turn coatails and ran, lights going out behind him in sequence. A jet black claw grabbed at his arm, shredding the material, and he jerked away, running until he found a reading room and dashed inside, slamming the door. There were a few light sources in here, a small lamp on the desk, and two larger lights on the wall. Turning these up to maximum brightness, Mommark listened at the door for any unusual sounds beyond.

Hearing nothing, he heaved a sigh of relief. The room was small, but brightly lit, and it was only the work of a moment to upend the desk and move the chair so no darkness could collect under them. From there, Mommark could finally take a moment to breathe and collect his thoughts. Drakness could literally be anywhere at any time, and all he had to fight with was a creepy statute. A quick mental check of Mommark's attacks let him develop a plan.

Focusing his enegy, Mommark starting glowing. The Flash Mend attack was generally used to heal an injured user, with a interesting side effect of creating a bright light when used. The healing powers of the move repaired his lab coat, even. An angry hiss came from the floor as the light from the move purged the darkness from the smallest cracks in the enclosed room and Drakness himself materialized.

"Ha, I knew it! Viper Lash!" Conjuring a trio of serpents, Mommark cracked them like a whip to attack the Underworlder, who winced at the mystical attack.

"Not bad" the shadow monster grudgingly admitted. "About time we wrapped this up anyways. Shadow Stike!" The creaure's black claws slashed out to connect with Mommark, who grunted in pain. The scientist lashed out with powerful psychic waves in retaliation. Drakness recoiled from the mental assault, striking back with an orb of energy that smashed a section of wall.

Mommark stepped back with a shout of "Flash Mend!". Drakness flinched away from the oncoming brightness, but it never came. Instead, he felt a sharp sting on his torso.

"Psych" Mommark winked, firing off another Sleep Sting that reduced the shadow to code.

* * *

"Is that even allowed?" Ron was asking in the Drome.

"I don't see why not" Jacob said. "It's not like we _need_ to call out our attacks. I doubt anyone will fall for that again, though"

"I know I won't. Still," he held out a hand "Good game"

"Thanks, you too."

The two left the drome, chatting amicably, while a figure in white robes trimmed in blue and yellow watched from a monitor.

End Notes: Drakness was a ton of fun to write. I've always had the idea that the living shadow would be incredibly powerful in the hands of the right player, and I'm glad I got to bring that idea to the page. I also had a blast with the final battle. A scientist (one might say a "Doctor"?) fighting living shadows in a library? That sounds familiar...


	9. Worth It

Chapter 9: Worth It

* * *

Author Notes: Over 500 views? What?

* * *

Underworld, Mount Pillar

"Get back here, human!"

"Don't let him escape!"

* * *

Underworld, Ulmar's Laboratory

"...two Danian fungus fruit, and some sand from the Darkened Dunes."

"Yeah, yeah. Take your scan and get out."

* * *

Overworld, Kiru City

"I dunno how useful I'll be in this Battledrome thing. I'm a part-time barista, not a fighter!"

"I don't need a barista, or a fighter. What I need is..."

* * *

Chaotic, Beta Drome

"We're absolutely sure Code Masters can't see us in here?"

"Yeah, of course. Maybe. I think so... It'll be fine. Trust me."

* * *

Chaotic, Port Court

Jacob crossed another item off his check list. His preparations for his match in Battledrome Amzen were almost complete. Monica had just finished helping test out some battlegear, and Hank was gathering intel on the Codemaster. Earthside, he and Hank were raiding the local hobby shops for packs of cards in hopes of some rare scans.

Hank walked up behind Monica while Jacob was pouring over card lists. "Okay, I just got done talking to Loot-N-Scoot, and LagunaBlue. They both had Codemaster matches with Amzen this past month"

"Isn't Loot-N-Scoot the guy that loads his deck with underwater locations?" Jacob asked.

He nodded "Mhmm. And they both said that Amzen has a bunch of rare creatures, but what she really goes all out on is battlegear. Some of the stuff didn't even have names, as far as they knew."

"Great, a couple Iron Pillars should take care of that. Can't some Mipedians disarm battlegear?"

Hank nodded. "Ribbian, Munnari, a few others."

"Ooh," Monica cut in. "My Automatons have an attack that can turn off battlegear, do you have anything like that?"

* * *

For the next few hours they strategized and planned, until fatigue finally overcame them and they ported home to get some sleep. As Jacob settled into his lumpy mattress, he thought back to couple days ago, just a week after his last match in the Amzen Drome.

Jacob finally had the chance to go back to Kiru City and wanted to explain himself to the Overworlders that he had nothing to do with the thefts from the arsenal. When asked why he had run from the guards, he explained that they'd fired their weapons before he even knew there was a problem. "I stopped to see what they wanted, and they shot at me!" The rest of his story drew several dark looks and, after an apology from the assembled creatures, he was sent on his way.

"Oops, we almost pumped you full of sharp rocks: our bad" Hank was complaining as they walked the city. The sky was bright and clear with a nice breeze in the market where the three friends strolled, eating strange local fruit that looks funny but tasted good.

"Hey, I'm just glad I can come back without getting jumped." Jacob wiped from juice from his hand onto his jeans. "By the cops, at least."

"Still, if you were a creature, not a human, it would've gone differently." to which Monica agreed.

They were enjoying the sun at a park when Jacob's scanner started to ring. On screen was the spinnging Chaotic logo that usually dominated the center of the Battledromes.

"AirRazor," it stated in's robotic monotone voice "you have been challenged by Codemaster Amzen. Prepare your deck and report to the Amzen Drone in exactly seventy-two hours."

And now, here he was just two days later, a Codemaster match tomorrow, and a few options and strategies under his belt that would boil down to more luck in his part. His scan quests in Perim bore decent results, as well as the card run here in town; hopefully it would be enough.

He turned fitfully in bed, mentally exhausted, yet unable sleep, and it was around midnight when sleep finally came.

A dark cavern echoing with dripping water. Scuttling noises, like spikes tapping on stone. A voice in his head.

[**Interesting**.]

With a gasp, Jacob bolted into an upright position. A nightmare, just a nightmare. He'd had them occasionally ever since that day, brief flashes of the Coralsmithy and his captors. The same thing happened when he and Hank got caught by Danians at Mount Pillar, but this felt different.

He squinted at the clock through blurry eyes; Six AM, perfect. Jumping in the shower and completing the rest of his morning routine, he threw on what he joking started calling his "Chaotic Uniform" of tan cargo pants and a black t shirt. He found that wearing the same thing in Chaotic and Perim helped him stand out a bit more, and it was easier to describe clothes than a face. A lot of the time he'd change out of it right after sending his code to Chaotic anyways.

He could hear his dad snoring lightly on the couch, a DVD menu screen playing a loop in the background, when he entered the small apartment's kitchen. A quick inventory of the fridge showed a meager supply, and he decided to reheat some leftovers, idly mumbling "Have a good day" to himself, tapping the button on his scanner than would send him to Chaotic.

Appearing in the Transport Center, he immediately walked over to one the the Port Court serving robots and ordered a full breakfast of eggs, sausage, and toast. Savoring the flavors, he planned out the rest of his day until his match. Maybe a quick trip to the Underworld Colosseum to get hyped for his battle against Amzen, or a walk through the Riverlands, see if Rellim got that bridge fixed.

Movement out of the corner of his eye pulled him from his thoughts and he looked over to see a familiar boy looking a little anxious.

"Will" he said, keeping his tone even.

"Jacob" the boy said "I heard you got a Codemaster match today." He paused and shuffled awkwardly. "Good luck."

Jacob nodded in acknowledgement, and went back to his meal when Will walked away. 'That was weird' he thought to himself. 'Maybe he's coming around?'

With his breakfast finished, Jacob decided the Underworld Colosseum would be his next stop. The battles staged there to settle disputes between Underworlders were almost exactly like One-on-One matches in Chaotic, with each creature allowed one battlegear and one Mugic, and beating each other up until one creature couldn't carry on. Fairly brutal, but an effective way for the tempermental Tribe to settle scores. Setting an alarm on his scanner for his match, he queued up the scan and vanished in a burst of light.

When he appeared, it was in the middle of a crowd screaming Underworlders. A few creatures looked his way in curiosity or annoyance, but were quickly drawn back to the action of the arena. Following their gaze, Jacob silently cursed his timing, as two Underworlders were already trading blows with each other in the middle of the Colosseum. One he recognized as Pyrithion, a huge snake with humanlike arms, the other was a tall blue humanoid in spiked gladiator armor with a sturdy shield and long curved sword.

"BLADEZ! Jacob screamed with the crowd, thrusting his fists into the air in support of his favorite Underworlder. Pyrithion was wiping dirt or dust from his eyes, slowly circling the damaged warrior, Bladez' battlegear a crumpled mass of metal nearby. With a growl, the spiked warrior tossed his shield at Pyrithion like a discus, who darted to the side, narrowly avoiding the improvised attack. With his hand now free, Bladez thrust it outward, creating a barrage of tiny blazing spheres that somehow followed the serpent, putting Pyrithion on the defensive, slithering away at top speed.

"Extinguishing Intonation" the snake chanted, releasing a blood-red spirit into a mugic crystal. Soft, flowing notes that seemed horribly out of place in the fiery Underworld filled the area and, with a harsh sizzle, snuffed out Bladez' attack. Pyrithion face split into a wide grin of truimph, until a heavy sword hilt connected with his jaw. In the few seconds it had taken the mugic to work it's effect, Bladez had closed the distance between the two and punched out with his weapon, knocking Pyrithion out cold.

The crowd burst into raucous applause, Jacob even grabbing the arm of the creature next to him and jumping with abandon. He calmed down seeing the angry expression of the Underworlder he was holding and offered a quick apology, proceeding to push his way through the assembly to the lower levels of the Colosseum. He caught a quick glimpse of Pyrithion being dragged out so the next pair could enter, but had lost sight of Bladez. Pulling out his scanner, he brought up a list of other Underworld Colosseum scans and ported to a series of hallways underneath that were attached to several "ready rooms" contestants could use to prep for matches.

A flash of blue entering one of the rooms caught his eyes and he ran forward, calling out the creature's name. Bladez stopped and and turned to face the stranger rushing towards him, instinctively tightening his grip on his sword.

"Jacob Collins, big fan." Bladez' eyes narrowed suspiciously as Jacob held out a hand. Seeing the Underworlder wouldn't return the greeting, his arm swung back down to his side. "Just wanted to say, great job out there today, really. If you don't mind me asking, what happened with you and Pyrithion?"

Bladez had heard a bit about these humans from other Underworlders, but never seen one until now. He glared at Jacob for a hard moment, wondering if they were all so boldly annoying, before responding. "He was bothering me" in a gravelly voice.

"Oh" Jacob said in a small voice, taking a small step back. "Okay... I was just wondering if I could get a quick scan of you?" He held up his scanner hopefully. Bladez looked at the human curiously before realization came and he frowned.

"Right, that game you humans play. Not interested." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Jacob shouted. Bladez slowly, ominously, turned to face the human. Jacob swallowed nervously. "It's just... You're my favorite creature. No other Underworlder is as awesome with a sword as you, and you're the first creature I ever won a match with because of that and-"

"Not." Bladez leaned in close "Interested."

"Well, what if we trade? Is there something you want or need in exchange for the scan?"

Bladez let a small sigh escape. Fine, anything to get this human out of his face.

"Brimflame's been working on a new shield for me; go get it. I'll be at the barracks" Bladez walked past Jacob to leave the building.

"Okay, sounds good. Where's Brimflame's workshop?" Jacob called after the Underworlder. Bladez ignored him and kept walking. "Peachy." he sighed. "Well, if it's a smith I gotta find..." Checking his Location cards, he tapped the screen and ported out of the Colosseum, and to a dark, roughly hewn tunnel at the end of which was a fiery orange glow.

Two heavily armored guards flanked a bridge just past the end of the passage leading to Khybon's Forge, blocking the path to a collection of steel platforms suspended over the Underworld's Molten River. They crossed their spears to block his approach.

"I'm looking for Brimflame, is he here?" Jacob asked. The guards shifted a bit, faceless helmets turning towards each other before one looked over his shoulder, tilting his head towards a platform where one could barely see a creature pounding away on an anvil.

"Oh, great! I'm here to pick up a shield for Bladez, is it okay if I go?" The guards had another silent conference, one of them eventually removing a horn from a loop at his waist and blowing out a series of short calls. A minute later, a small red creature with goat legs and horns trotted onto the bridge. Jacob thought his name was 'Jore...Jigger...Jiggorex!'

Jiggorex sized up the human in front of him and snapped "We don't allow Chaotic players here. There's nothing here for you. Be grateful for the chance to leave" Ever since the incident with the Phobia Mask, Khybon had put a blanket ban on humans in the forge, months of hard work melted to slag. They'd only just started to design the next version, without the prototype to work with.

"I know there's nothing here for me, I'm picking up for Bladez. A shield?"

Jiggorex frown thoughtfully. If the human was yelling the truth, it would look good for them to have the item crafted and delivered in record time. If he was lying to get a scan, he'd be sorely disappointed: the shield was an ordinary (well, maybe not ordinary, Brimflame was a master armorsmith) piece of equipment, not a wondrous battlegear. Deciding the pros outweighed the cons, he nodded and went to retrieve the package."Here you go kid" Jiggorex said with a sly grin, holding the shield out for him.

It looked impressive, Jacob thought. Dark and embedded with sharp metal spikes, much like the armor of its future wielder. Taking the shield, he almost collapsed under its weight. The thing probably weighed close to 200 pounds!

"Good luck" Jiggorex laughed, waving over his shoulder.

Eying the shield anxiously, he slid the straps onto his shoulders with a groan and ported to Underworld City.

* * *

At the barracks, Bladez had just sat down with a hot drink when the human staggered through the door, panting like he'd run a marathon. Noise and chatter around them stopped as the boy huffed and puffed his way past them and over to Bladez' table, stooped over from the weight of a heavy slab of metal on his back. Removing his burden with a grunt of effort, he dropped it on the table and wheezed "Brought...shield..." while making a thumbs-up.

Bladez' looked at the human incredulously. Picking it up with ease, he strapped the shield on and gave it a few test swings. He'd have to send his thanks to Brimflame later. Until then...

"Not bad. For a human." Bladez tone was measured, but mentally he was dumbstruck. The human was ready to collapse, how in the name of Chaor did this scrawny weak thing drag it all the way here from Khybon's Forge? No, he didn't drag the shield, there wasn't a scratch or scuff on it! There was clearly more to these humans, at least this one, than appeared. Bladez decided further investigating was in order

"You know Agitos? Chaor's advisor?"

"I know of him." Jacob clarified, wondering where this was going.

"He's on a 'diplomatic mission' of sorts to Gothos Tower" Bladez said, pulling a thick sheaf of parchment from a pouch at his belt. "Give this to him, await his reply, then come find me."

"I do this, and you'll let me scan you?" Jacob asked, doubt creeping into his mind

"Of course" Bladez said, walking away with a satisfied grin. Gothos Tower was at the edge of the Underworld, a trip that took around 2 weeks, minimum. If he managed the trip there and back, he'd deserve a 'scan'. Either way, the kid would be out of his way for a while.

Jacob looked at the packet in his hands, to Bladez' retreating form, shrugged and ported to a spot within Gothos Tower.

* * *

An hour later, Jacob ported back into Underworld City, a little singed around the edges, but otherwise alright. Strolling up to the Barracks, he easily found Bladez out in the training yard, hacking apart a dummy.

"Here's your letter. Agitos also wants to add 'Not funny'." He said, holding out Agitos' written response. Bladez bristled at the human's candor, snatching the letter away and reading over it's contents. It was legitimate: all the codes, signs and countersigns Agitos placed in long correspondence were accounted for. Bladez was stunned. There was simply no possible way.

"What are you playing at, boy?" The warrior snapped, burning the letter to ash in his hand.

"What? You asked me to take your note to Agitos, and I did. It was easy"

"How? You should've been gone for at least a month"

"Oooh" Understanding dawned on Jacob's face. "I used my sca-"

"There you are!" a voice cut off Jacob. A hulking chunk of muscle on the shape of a human was quickly approaching. The stout blue creature walked up to Bladez and they exchanged a short greeting.

"Pyrithion is lookin' fer you again" the newcomer said. "Says you fought dirty last time"

"That's rich, coming from that snake" Bladez growled. "A little dirt in the eye isn't that big a deal compared to HIS nonsense." Jacob wondered what really happened between the two besides mild annoyance.

"You, boy-Jacob, right?"

"Yeah?"

"I got one more job for you." Bladez paused. "You said you're a fan of mine, right?"

Jacob nodded. "Of course!" One more fetch quest and that scan was his!

"You do anything I asked?"

He hesitated. "I...I think so."

Bladez stepped up to Jacob, the scarred Underworlder looking down at him ominously. "This isn't an 'I think so' situation. Yes or No?"

Jacob swallowed and with a deep breath, said "Yes"

"Good." Bladez turned to the other creature and they had a hushed conversation. An object changed hands between them and they parted ways, Bladez returning to Jacob.

"How well do you know Underworld City?" the creature asked him.

"I'm not sure where everything is, not I can get around well enough. Why?"

Bladez pressed something into his hands, a glittering green gem with some kind of rune or symbol carved into it. "Pyrithion is at Chaor's palace right now. I need you to plant this in his house before he gets back.

"What."

"I've been having problems with him for a while now" Bladez explained "He accused me of cheating in a fight a while back. Apparently he had money on the other guy. Anyways, he challenged me, I won, he accused me of cheating again, and I got challenged again, this time by an associate of his. I don't mind fighting, but it's getting tiresome. I'm hoping that a trip to the Pits will break the cycle."

Jacob stared at the gem in shock. "Is this hot?"

"Hot?"

"Stolen" Jacob explained.

Bladez patted Jacob on the shoulder. "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies"

"That's encouraging" Jacob wracked his brains for any info he could on Pyrithion. He vaguely recalled some flavor text on his card Earthside saying something about lying to get ahead. So at the very least he was immoral, maybe stealing credit for others work. That, and harassing his favorite creature. Was that enough to get him locked up?

* * *

"All I wanted was a scan," Jacob grumbled to himself, walking the streets of Underworld City to Pyrithion's home. "This is why I hate the Underworld". The windows were dark in the stone single-story building. The streets were empty except for a creature with unnaturally long legs lighting streetlights as he peeked in through the glassless window. The interior was downright spartan, just a tall desk and some stone tables, with a ramp or slide pointing downward along the back wall.

Testing the door revealed that it was sealed shut, and thick bars blocked his entry through the window. 'Locked door, barred windows, no glass' Jacob pondered. The gaps in the bars were just big enough to get his arm through. His arm, and something else.

Lines of light traced over the room, Jacob straining against the bars to get his arm as far inside as possible. With a beep, his scanner finished it's work and Jacob ported back to Chaotic to lock in his new scan. Muttering a quick prayer, he travelled back to Perim and found himself on the inside of Pyrithion's abode.

"New favorite scan strat" he mused, scooping up the gem he dropped inside the window. Porting was odd: sometimes players could bring things like maps or water from Perim and other times they would come back to Chaotic empty-handed. Jacob figured, in this case, it was better safe than sorry.

The ramp led down to a basement-like structure lit with soft glowing lamps and furnished with colorful mats, pillows, and cushions. "It looks like a red light district down here" he chuckled, looking for a place to stash the contraband.

The telltale creak of a door opening above had Jacob freeze in place, followed by the sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor. Quickly shoving the jewel into a pouch hanging on a hook nearby, he vanished just as a cobra-shaped silhouette came into view.

* * *

Bladez flinched as light washed over him, leaving him otherwise unharmed from the scan.

"That's it?"

"That's it." Jacob confirmed, taking a quick glance at his new card before showing Bladez the scanner. "Now, I can borrow your current skills in any new matches"

Bladez simply shook his head. Battles, like in the Colosseum, where humans turned into creatures. Almost too crazy to believe.

A sudden ringing from broke the silence as his scanner's alarm went off, alerting Jacob to his impending Codemaster match.

"Thanks so, so much Bladez. I've gotta go, but this is...Yes!" Activating the return function on his scanner, Jacob dissolved into motes of light, porting back to Chaotic.

Bladez gaped at the spot Jacob vanished from, wondering what other feats humans were capable of.

* * *

Jacob sprinted from the Port Court to the closest tram station that would take him to Amzen Drome. Uploading the new scan only took a minute and he still had time to spare, but it didn't help his fraying nerves. Tapping his foot anxiously, he looked out the window at the approaching building, a bright structure of yellow and blue.

* * *

End Notes:

Just a quick filler so I wouldn't have two battles back-to-back.

New Card- Extinguishing Intonation

Generic Mugic

Cost: 1 Mugic

Effect: Target Fire attack deals 0 damage.


	10. Those Who Fight

Chapter 10: Those Who Fight

Jacob stood outside the Amzen Drome with Hank and Monica, nervously waiting for the door to open. Monica was smiling encouragingly while Hank was reciting what was probably one of coach's pre-game pep talks.

"You ready?"

"Yeah" The clock struck 2 pm.

"You pumped?"

"Yeah!" The iris-like door spiraled open.

"What're you gonna do?!"

"WIN!" Jacob all but charged into the battledrome.

* * *

"Greetings, Codemaster" he said meekly, placing his scanner on the dock. Amzen was standing there when he walked in, wearing long white robes and a helmet in the vague shape of the drome itself, white with curves and shades of blue and yellow. She gave him a tilt of the head in response.

"Greetings, AirRazor. I appreciate you accepting my challenge." Her voice was polite, but with an edge to it that reminded him of a firm teacher."I hope you've prepared yourself."

Jacob nodded and went over his setup, placing cards on the battleboard. Amzen was doing the same, having docked her solid white scanner.

* * *

Monica squeezed Hank's hand. "Has he ever had a Codemaster match?"

"Nope" Hank said, nervously munching on a handful of tortilla chips. "Here's hoping he puts up a good fight, at least."

"Don't you want him to win?"

"Of course! It's just...Codemasters are who they are for a reason. If just anyone could beat them, they wouldn't be Codemasters, y'know?

An alarm sounded on screens around the Port Court, signaling the start of the match. Jacob had placed Bladez and Attrapol on his front line on either side of an odd warthog creature neither of his friends had seen before, with Garv, Bodal, and Kopond in the back. Amzen was using Screamer, Olzai, and Brimflame at the front, with a trio of umfamiliar creatures supporting the Underworlders from the rear.

"That's a, uh...eclectic team" Hank observed, checking Jake's mix of Overworld and Underworld.

"I'm more curious about Amzen's walking Swiss Army Knife" Monica pointed to the creature occupying her board's backmost spot: a humanoid with light blue skin and various weapons strapped to its back and belt. It had a bare chest, and a smooth helmet with visor covering it's face. Instead of a tribal color, the border of it's card was white.

* * *

Jacob was wondering the same thing as he inspected her creatures. Her front line was easy enough to identify, but her middle row contained an Underworlder that looked like a water elemental, and a green-skinned humanoid Overworlder with a troublemaker's smirk. The one in the back though, it didnt appear to _have_ a tribe. Was that even possible?

"AirRazor," the announcer called out "you have been challenged by Codemaster Amzen. You will be the attacker. Please activate the Location Randomizer"

Giving the dial a firm spin, Jacob's stomach turned watching the locations flash by, slowing until an image of Overworlders sitting in military-style bunks was displayed.

"The Barracks. Choose your attacking creature"

"Bladez attacks Screamer"

* * *

"What?" Hank groaned. "Screamer can swap battlegear with allied creatures. Why would he attack him first?"

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing" Monica said, rubbing Hank's back.

* * *

'I have no idea what I'm doing' Jacob thought, pressing his hand against Bladez' card. Every strategy and plan flew right out of his head as soon at the match properly started. His transformation into the armored Underworlder was swift, Bladez' new shield sitting comfortably on his arm. 'Wow, Brimflame _does_ do good work'.

Across the way, Amzen was finishing her transformation into a tall slender creature with purple skin, bat-like ears, and long blue hair. He was wearing an odd leather outfit that covered from the middle of his torso down to his knees.

"Show me what you're made of, AirRazor" Screamer said with a 'Come Here' gesture.

The Barracks in Kiru City was normally home to dozens of Overworld creatures training, sleeping, or awaiting assignments sent down by Maxxor. Currently, it was the site of Bladez getting thrown through a wall by a sonic blast.

Bladez rolled with the attack and sprang to his feet as another sound wave reverberated through the building, this one much weaker than the last.

"Windslash!" Bladez swung his weapon sideways just as a horrid creature tried to leap through the hole and was promptly blasted back through by the powerful gust. A sharp inhale from his opponent had Bladez bracing himself, another blast of sound pummeling his body, who countered with a shout of "Ash Torrent!" sending a cone of burning soot chasing after the vampiric Underworlder. Blades grin fell when Screamer strode confidently into the ruined room, face distorted into a grotesque mask, greaves of black and gold shining on his legs and hardly a scratch on him.

With difficulty, Bladez shook off his shock and thrust his sword outward, creating a blast of powerful energy that pushed Screamer back, but with nowhere near the strength Bladez knew it should've had. Something was wrong. Blades knew what Screamer was supposed to look like, and it wasn't this...thing.

Shaking his head in disappointment, Screamer simply drew in a deep breath and let out a ear-piercing wail that shook the building to it's foundation. Dust and debris rained down around them as part of the ceiling collapsed, burying Bladez. A few seconds passed and Screamer realized the battle wasn't over; exploding forth from pile of dirt and broken timbers was Bladez, clad in a strange armor apparently made from spiky bits of hard chitin.

"You're not the only one with rare battlegear!" the warrior roared, launching himself at Screamer with renewed vigor and pummeling him with powerful sword and shield blows.

* * *

Cheers went up around the Port Court as Bladez' energy rose and he began his counter-attack, Hank explaining how the battlegear raised a creatures Energy by fifty points. "It's what were were testing in the Beta Drome the other day."

* * *

Screamer dropped to the ground under a hard left hook, courtesy Bladez' shield. Blowing Bladez back with a thunderous shout, Screamer hauled himself to his feet.

"Alright, you showed me something new. I'll give you that." the vampire said, impressed. "I wonder how it reacts to Mugic, though?" The sound of clashing notes filled the room and the Armor shattered in a burst of code, leaving Bladez with only his standard equipment and a small amount of energy remaining.

"Poorly, apparently" Screamer sounded a little disappointed as Bladez' face scrunched in anger. Slashing wildly, Bladez tried to close the distance between the two, instead he was thrown back by a final sonic screech and reduced to a spray of code.

Jacob tried not to pout while Screamer changed back into Codemaster Amzen. One round in and his go-to creature was kicking back in the discard pile.

"An unexpected turn" Amzen said, nodding towards Jacob. "You nearly defeated my Screamer."

"Nearly" he agreed sadly.

Amzen spun the Location Randomizer, revealing a deep hole in the ground with creatures around the top, looking down at a pair of fighters.

"Brawler's Burrow. Codemaster Amzen, please choose your attacking and target creature."

"Screamer attacks hmm..." She pointed at a spot on Jacob's battleboard containing a humanoid warthog. "That one. That's twice you've shown me something new. Let's hope it's just as interesting as that armor, eh?"

Jacob nodded and placed his hand against the card. The swirling stream of code didn't change his height that much, but his new appearance was otherwise very much Orcish, with bristly gray skin, pig snout, and two pairs of tusks sprouting from his lower jaw. The overall effect would've been intimidating if not for the creature's colorful breeches and tunic under a flowery apron.

"Screamer vs Birusa at Brawlers Burrow. Let the battle begin"

* * *

"Birusa...Birusa..." Hank had heard that name before. "Why does that sound familiar?" Monica simply shrugged while players around them either laughed at the creature's outfit or wondered about the origin of this new card.

* * *

When the two appeared at the Brawler's Burrow they were practically on top of each other. The pit itself was only about 20 feet at widest, making it practically impossible to dodge any incoming attacks, so both creatures immediately pushed themselves against opposite walls to see what the other would do.

Screamer summoned a piece of battlegear, presumably borrowed from one of his other creatures. It was a thick book with strange symbols on it's green cover.

"Never seen this, I take it?" Screamer asked conversationally. Birusa shook his head in response. "The Book of Hinya-Iha" he explained. "can be sacrificed to bring coded battlegear back to the field."

Birusa was beyond confused. "But... I haven't coded any of your gear."

Screamer's mouth split into a wide grin. "I never said it had to be mine." The book vanished from Screamer's hand. "I wasn't lying when I said I was impressed by that armor. I hope you dont mind if I take it for a spin."

Layers of thick chitin materialized over Screamer's body while the Overworlder sputtered incoherently. A quick but powerful shout from the Underworlder drowned out Birusa's half formed protests, pressing him up against the side of the pit. The attack itself was weak, just enough to keep Birusa pinned to the wall, but not enough to stop him from summoning his own battlegear, a metal bracer wired up to caged glowing sphere. Inspiration struck, and Birusa locked eyes with Screamer, channeling an attack through them.

"Delirium!" The sphere on his battlegear flared brightly and popped, vanishing as it's effect was spent. A swirling vortex of color distorted Screamer's vision, making him lose focus amd sway in place for a moment. The effect faded quickly and Screamer was able to shake it off with little more than a migraine.

* * *

Watching Screamer's energy drop by fifteen points, compared to the twenty-point hit Birusa took, left many players groaning in frustration. Why would AirRazor bring such a weak creature to a Codemaster Match? It only had five energy left, and would get knocked over by a stiff breeze. Monica whispered something in Hank's ear, a sharp bark of a laugh leaving him before stifling it and turning back to the match.

* * *

"Gotta admit, I like the look" Screamer was saying, admiring the suit "Shame Birusa won't be around to enjoy it." He took a deep breath and shouted, producing a normal, non-attack, scream that made Birusa flinch. Visible confusion on his face, Screamer tried again, with the same result.

* * *

"So wait, does it not take battle damage now?"

"Nah, if that were the case, Screamer could still attack"

"I didn't hear any Mugic"

I want one!"

* * *

"Mind Strike!" Waves of telepathic energy pummeled Screamer, causing him to grab his head in pain. He tried to loose another vocal attack, producing only a strangled cry.

"How are you doing that?" He asked in equal parts frustration and awe.

'Sheer dumb luck' Jacob thought. Aloud, Birusa said "Meticulous planning and strategy." Snorting, he charged at Screamer who gasped in surprise. Instead of colliding, however. Birusa jumped at the last moment, planting a foot on the Underworlder and kicking off painfully, launching himself at the lip of the pit. Grasping at the edge, Birusa managed to haul himself out of the hole and paused to catch his breath.

'C'mon, man. You gotta have something else in here I can use...' Jacob mentally pleaded, shuffling through Birusa's thoughts and memories. "There we go: Muges Edge!" Energy surged around the Overworlder, slightly increasing his combat prowess, just as Screamer launched up from the pit, propelled by a sonic blast.

Stumbling backwards and landing flat on his behind, Birusa punched out, firing off a Sleep Sting just as Screamer landed and striking the Underworder in the neck. He took a step forward, the toxins working their way through his system and causing his legs to tremble. He stood helpless as Birusa planted a foot on his chest and pushed, launching Screamer back into the pit with a shout, code erupting from the hole like a geyser.

* * *

A chorus of shouts filled the Port Court with Birusa's kick. Cheers for the player, outrage on behalf on the Codemaster, and uproarious laughter from Hank and Monica as they high-fived each other.

* * *

"An impressive win, AirRazor. I must know how you pulled it off."

Jacob scratched his head sheepishly. "It was actually you that did it, Codemaster."

He couldn't see her reaction behind the helmet, but imagined her eyes narrowing. "Oh?"

"I don't think the armor was finished when I scanned it. It has a... a flaw. If a creature takes too much damage at once, it stops their next attack from working at all."

"And your Bladez could attack just fine due to it's ability to deal damage under those exact circumstances" Amzen was nodding now. "You used my own interest in battlegear against me. Well played."

'Sure, lets go with that' Jacob thought, spinning the Randomizer. His location cards passed by, landing on a collection of underground pipes. Jacob glanced over his Mugic selection, finding the one he placed there specifically for this location.

"Birusa attacks Brimflame at the Kiru City Tunnels" he announced, pressing his hand against Birusa's card. Soon, Amzen's form was that of a large muscular man with skin the color of granite, bald except for a short beard, hard spikes protruding from his elbows and clothed in only a pair of simple breeches.

Bright light filled the drome and Birusa found himself in a cramped section of heavy metal tubes. He immediately ducked into an alcove and focused on his Mugic, mentally expending a mugician from Garv to fuel the spell that sent out a chorus of light, airy notes. Birusa felt the Mugic take hold, creating a layer of comfortable air around him just a blast of fire came surging into his tunnel.

The flames wrapped around his body in a wave of heat, and Brimflame stepped out of his own hiding place. The Underworlder was wearing a confident smile and strolled right up to the inferno, await the telltale shower of code. What he got instead was a trio of hissing snakes snapping out from the blaze, wrapping around his arms and torso, attempting to sink their fangs into his stony skin. Brimflame leapt back and stared as Birusa strode casually out of the dwindling flames.

"Is it a bit warm in here?" he asked, smug grin on his porcine face. Brimflame's eyes shone brightly in the dark space, summoning a handful of flaming coals and hurling them at his opponent, only for them to bounce off harmlessly. Birusa laughed in response, running into one of the many tunnels and vanishing into the darkness.

* * *

"_Now_ it's not taking any damage."

"What the heck was that Mugic?"

"I think I've heard it before..."

"Shhhh! I wanna watch!"

* * *

Brimflame was sprinting down the tunnel after Birusa, throwing metal spears glowing with heat after the Overworlder. The few attacks that struck true failed to break through Birusa's Mugical defenses, allowing him to continue leading the chase uninhibited. Brimflame followed him around a corner and lost sight of his quarry. The path split off in two here: one to the right, the other to the left. Unable to hear or see anything in the dripping dark, he chose the left path and promptly stepped in something slippery that caused the metal of the floor go out from under him.

Brimflame yelled in surprise, attempting to slow his descent using the stony growths on his elbows to try and find purchase. They refused to catch hold however, and Brimflame eventually felt the bottom of the slide vanish, ejecting him through an opening in the top of open space where he landed roughly in a shallow pool of stagnant water. He made a move to stand, just to feel something heavy collide with him, driving him face-first back into the sewage. Birusa climbed off of Brimflame's back with a whoop of joy.

"Aw, man, that's more of a rush than I thought." Birusa reached down towards Brimflame to help him up.

Brimflame reached for the offered hand on reflex and jerked back just as arcs of electricity danced along Birusa's fingers, narrowly avoiding a nasty shock.

"Almost got me" Brimflame quipped, taking a few cautious steps back. "But I think it's only a matter of time at this point, yes?"

"Yup. Any chance of your forfeiting the match, then?" Birusa asked with a cheeky grin.

"Im afraid not" Brimflame summoned fistful of burning embers and threw them, Birusa taking a glancing blow as he dodged, but still with no actual harm done. A counterattack came his way, hard stones from Birusa's Pebble Storm pelting his rocky body. Back and forth the two traded blows, while the crowd cheered them on until, finally, Birusa ducked a blow from a blade of semisolid magma and retaliated with a blast of psychic energy that warped and twisted Brimflame's form. He briefly flickered, like a tv with a bad signal and burst into code.

* * *

"Two down!" Hank crowed, "That's my dude!"

"Not quite" Monica pointed out with a frown. On screen, Jacob was changing back into a human, eyes fixed on the battleboard where Brimflame's card was still in play.

* * *

"Why isn't Brimflame a pile of code?" Jacob asked, indignant.

"You first" Amzen asked, with what sounded like a smile in her voice. "Your Birusa failed to take any damage from my attacks, and I know it wasn't on me this time."

"The location." Jacob grudgingly confessed. "Really powerful creatures deal less damage in the tunnels under Kiru City. Combined with my Melody of the Meek Mugic, Birusa was immune to combat damage. Your turn"

"Brimflame was equipped with a hologram projector created by...a prolific battlegear technician. You destroyed my battlegear, _not_ my creature."

'_That's_ why I didn't see her use any gear down there.' Jacob thought, watching Amzen's location appear on the field. Amzen decided Ozlai would attack Birusa at UnderWorld City.

The fight was short at least, the assembled players, thought. Without any equipment or Mugical support, the short muscular demon easily outpaced and overpowered the Overworld barista in a painfully quick match that saw Birusa thrown into a statue of Chaor, the ruler of the Underworld.

* * *

Atropol attacking Ozlai at Kiru City went much better for Jacob. Using his Gauntlets of Might, the armored Underworlder was able to get his hands on Ozlai's battlegear, a curved hollow horn, crushing it as easily as one would a tin can. From there, Ozlai atttempted to outspeed Atropol, not aware of Jacob's knowledge of the city. The match ended when Atropol pulverized the supports in a building that he knew was scheduled for demolition due to a weak foundation. The entire structure collapsed on Ozlai with one well-placed Rock Wave.

* * *

Brimflame versus Atropol at Stone Pillar saw the Underworders fighting for control of the rogue Mugician that haunted the ruins. Atropol won out in the end, using it to power a Falsetto Mugic, weakening Brimflame enough to code him with a Power Pulse.

* * *

"You're doing quite well, AirRazor" Amzen said as Jacob spun the Location Randomizer. "but those were just the preliminaries. We've had our fun; the real battle begins now."

"The 'real' battle?" he cocked an eyebrow at the Codemaster as the Overworld Library scrolled into place as the next battlegeound. 'Because this whole match has been a walk in the park so far' he thought sarcastically. Checking his options, Jacob decided on his target.

Atropol attacks...um" He pointed at the green-skinned creature with spiky black hair, wearing a roughly stitched red tunic.

"Vlar" she supplied.

* * *

"That creature looks familiar" Hank tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"I'm sure he does" Monica teased. "Colorful skin and a cocky smile. Just like most Overworlders."

"Ha ha" Hank gave her a playful nudge before they turned their attention back to the screen where Atropol was searching the shelves for Amzen's creature.

* * *

"At least I won't be jumping at shadows this time" Atropol growled to himself, flexing his hands to summon his battlegear. He frowned behind his horned helmet when nothing happened, trying again. A blow to his lower back sent him sprawling, and he spun in surprise.

The creature, Vlar, was standing right behind him, wearing Atropol's strength-enhancing gloves, his face grim.

"How did you-urgh!" Atropol's question was cut off by a hard punch to his ribs he felt through his armor.

"I told you AirRazor: The real fight's started. No more explaining." Vlar channeled energy through 'his' gauntlets, unleashing a blast that sent Atropol airborne, crashing into a large wall of bookshelves.

To Be Continued...

* * *

End Notes:

New Cards-

Birusa

Overworld Strategist

Courage: 40

Power: 30

Wisdom: 65

Speed: 40

Mugic: 0

Energy: 25

* * *

Book of Hinya-Iha

Battlegear

Sacrifice Book of Hinya-Iha: Return another Battlegear from either player's general discard pile to play equipped to an unequipped Creature you control. When the chosen battlegear would leave play, return it to it's owners general discard pile.


	11. Chapter 11

Update:

I swear this fic isnt dead! Between stress with real life, the outbreak, and just good old-fasioned lack of inspiration, Trials in Perim isn't #1 on my priorities. However, I'm still writing, planning out future chapters when the muse hits, and overall working on it, even if I'm not posting. If anyone would like to help me with story prompts, or suggestions about what you'd like to see in future chapters, feel free to drop me a PM.

Until then, here's a teaser for the next chapter, Those who Fight Further:

"How's he doing?" someone asked the pair of teens watching their friend struggle against the Codemaster. Hank looked over, recognized the younger boy, and gave Will a noncommittal shrug. "Having a tough time, but he's one creature up."

"Would you like to sit with us?" Monica asked kindly.

Will looked between the two and, upon seeing Hank's brief nod, pulled out a seat to watch with them.

The spawning point for this battle was dark, Jacob taking a moment for Garv's eyes to adjust to the gloom. The square chamber was huge, four doors leading to a wide walkway around the outer edge, and four flights of stairs just opposite the doors raising up to form an X in the middle. At the junction was a circular column that was slightly elevated. Jacob thought it looked like it was once used to display some long-lost treasure, maybe a ritual site. With a shrug, he leapt onto the closest stair and began to climb.

The former inhabitants of the city had vanished long ago, to the point all anyone remembered of them was that they were literally giants, and the architecture reflected that. Garv was huffing for breath, pulling himself up onto the last stair while Jacob silently cursed the anthropomorphic hippo's portly frame. Taking a break to look around the room, he was relieved to see Vlar hadn't found him yet. From his perch atop the center column, he should have a better vantage point to hold off the Codemaster's attacks.

A mental command brought a book with a dark blue cover to Garv's hand, and he sat down, tome opened to a marked page and began to read.


End file.
